AUG  7  1956 


BX  7233  .G759  S4  1829 
Griffin,  Edward  Dorr,  1770- 

1837. 
A  series  of  lectures 


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in  2009  witii  funding  from 

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SERIES 


>AUG    7    1956 


liECTURES, 


DELIVERED  IN 


PARK  STREET  CHURCH,  BOSTOJV, 


SABBATH  EVENING. 


/ 


BY  EDWARD  D.  (JRIFFIN,  D.  D. 

PASTOR  OF  PARK  STREET  CHURCH. 


THIRD  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  CORRECTED, 


BOSTON: 
PRINTED  BY    CROCKER  AND  BREWSTER, 

47;  Washing-ton  Street. 

NEW   YORK:— J.   LEAVITT. 

182,  Broadway. 

1829. 


DISTRICT  OF  Jil^SS^CHUSETTS,  to  wit: 
District  Clerk's  Office. 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  that  on  tlie  nineteenth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  18-27,  in 
the  fifty  first  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  fc?tates  of  America 
Edward  D.  Griflin  of  the  said  District,  has  deposited  in  this  ofiice  the  title 
of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  Autiior,  in  the  words  following,  to  icit: 

"A  series  of  Lectures,  delivered  in  Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  on  Sabbath 
Evening.  By  Edward  D.  Griffin,  D.  D.  Pastor  of  Park  Street  Church. 
Third  Edition,  Revised  and  Corrected." 

In  Conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  intitled,"An 
act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts  and 
books,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein 
mentioned;"  and  also  to  an  act,  intitled,  "An  act  supplementary  to  an  act,  in- 
titled.  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during  tlie  times 
therein  mentioned;  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing, 
engraving  and  etching  historical,  and  other  prints."       JNO.  W.  DAVIS, 

Clerk  of  the  District  of  Jilassachusetts. 


»mMiia*i 


tQ) 


Page 

Dedication         5 

LECTURE  I. 
Total  depravity 9 

LECTURE  IL 

Same  subject  continued 26 

LECTURE  in. 

Men  with  natural  affections  hut  without  holiness       49 

LECTURE  IV. 

Men  love  God  supremely  or  are  his  enemies  .     .       72 

LECTURE  V. 

Regeneration  not  progressive 89 

LECTURE  VI. 
Regeneration  supernatural 109 

LECTURE  VII. 
The  means  of  grace 134 


IV  CONTENTS. 

Page 

LECTURE  VIII. 
Same  subject  continued, 151 

LECTURE  IX. 
Election        .     .     .     .     • 172 

LECTURE  X. 

The  plea  of  inalility  considered 196 

LECTURE  XI. 
The  perseverance  of  saints 216 

LECTURE  XII. 

The  system  confirmed  and  applied         .     .     .     .     234 


TO    THE    CONGREGATION    WHO    SUPPORT    THE 
LECTURE  IN  PARK  STREET  CHURCH  ON 
SABBATH  EVENING. 


MY   DEAR    FRIENDS, 

In  dedicating  to  you  a  series  of  discourses  prepared  for 
your  benefit  and  now  published  at  the  request  of  a  very  re- 
spectable portion  of  you,  1  think  I  am  prompted  no  less  by 
propriety  than  feeling.  Though  many  of  you  do  not  belong 
to  my  particular  charge,  the  lecture  which  you  have  con- 
tributed to  maintain  is  your  own,  and  these  fruits  of  it  are 
your  own.  I  am  glad  also  to  have  this  opportunity  to  ex- 
press my  gratitude  for  the  liberality  and  candour  with  which 
you  have  supported  that  exercise  and  statedly  listened  to 
the  expositions  there  attempted.  As  a  distinct  expression 
of  this  sentiment  I  commit  these  plain  unadorned  discourses 
which  you  have  caused  to  be  preached,  to  your  patronage 
and  protection,  while  in  a  higher  sense  I  commend  them  to 
the  favour  and  gracious  protection  of  God. 

Should  strangers  chance  to  cast  an  eye  on  the  following 
pages,  they  will  probably  regard  them  with  various  feelings; 
but  you,  my  brethren,  will  certainly  read  them  with  candour 


VI 

and  kindness,  and  especially  the  numerous  proofs  adduced 
from  the  word  of  God.  On  these  I  beseech  you  to  ponder 
with  deep  and  solemn  attention  and  with  many  prayers. 
By  the  book  which  furnishes  these  proofs  we  must  all  be 
judged  in  the  day  that  shall  decide  the  eternal  destinies  of 
men.  He  is  an  infidel  who  will  not  suffer  that  volume  abso- 
lutely to  govern  his  faith,  in  spite  of  preconceived  opinions 
or  present  reasonings.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  a  reve- 
lation of  the  infinite  God  would  rise  above  the  blinded 
reason  of  man.  ^'Mij  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts j  nei- 
ther are  your  xvaxjs  my  waijs  saith  the  Lord;  for  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ivays  higher 
than  your  ways  and  my  thoughts  than  your  thoughts.''^ 
Whoever  sits  down  to  these  sheets  with  a  proud  determina- 
tion, whatever  the  Scriptures  may  decide,  to  think  for  him- 
self, will  be  likely  to  rise  with  his  old  opinions.  But  the 
man  who  enters  on  the  investigation  with  humility  and 
prayer,  will  be  guided  into  all  truth,  whether  he  finds  it  in 
these  pages  or  not.  If  any  reader  is  resolved  not  to  bow 
implicitly  to  the  word  of  God,  I  beseech  him  to  close  the 
book  here. 

Should  any  of  you  be  tempted  to  think  that  some  parts 
of  this  exposition  are  too  much  against  you,  before  you  de- 
cide recollect  that  you  are  a  party  concerned. 

In  expressing  my  own  views  of  truth  I  have  had  no  wish 
to  give  offence  or  pain  to  others.     I  have  spoken  plainly  as 


vu 

time  and  circumstances  seemed  to  require,  and  expect  to 
have  my  motives  re-examined  at  a  tribunal  from  which 
there  is  no  appeal.  If  I  have  censured  without  the  gentle- 
ness of  the  Christian  spirit,  may  God  forgive;  if  with 
right  views  and  feelings,  to  him  be  the  praise. 

My  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  is,  that  even  these 
discourses  may  prove  of  some  advantage  to  you  and  your 
children. 

I  am, 

Dear  Brethren, 

With  affectionate  respect. 

Your  brother  and  servant  in  the  Lord, 
EDWARD  D.  GRIFFIN. 
Boston,  March '^Q,  1813. 


liECTfJRE  I. 


TOTAL    DEPRAVITY. 


GENESIS   vi.  5. 

AND  GOD  SAW  THAT  THE  WICKEDNESS  OF  MAN  WAS  GREAT  IN  THE 
EARTH,  AND  THAT  EVERY  IMAGINATION  OF  THE  THOUGHTS  OF 
HIS   HEART    WAS   ONLY   EVIL    CONTINUALLY. 

Such    was  the  character  of    the   whole    antedilu- 
vian world,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  family. 
And  unless   human   nature  is  essentially   changed, 
such  is  the  character,   with  the   exception  of  those 
who  are  renewed  by  grace,   of  the  whole  modern 
world.      But   human  nature    is   not  changed.      It 
never  was  tainted  with  any  thing  worse  than  inordi- 
nate   self-love;  it   is   tainted   with  that   still.     The 
nature  of  man,  like  that  of  other  animals,  remains 
essentially  the  same  in  every   period  and  condition. 
"As  in  water  face  answereth  to  face,   so  the  heart 
of  man  to  man."'^  '  Different  restraints  may  be  im- 
posed by  light,  by  example,  by   civilized  habits,  by 
divine  and  human  laws,  by  motives  growing  out  of 
peculiar  circumstances,  by  more  or  less  activity  in 
the  social  affections;    but  till  a  new  nature  is  im- 
planted selfishness  gives  essentially  the  same  form 

*Prov.  xxvii.  19. 


10  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    I. 

in  the  sight  of  God  to  every  human  character.  He 
that  only  "liateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer;"  he  that 
cherishes  an  impure  desire  is  an  adulterer;  he  that 
covets  is  an  idolater.*  In  this  polluted  principle 
lurk  the  seeds  of  all  sin;  and  where  nothing  else  of 
a  moral  nature  exists,  as  in  all  cases  where  "true 
holiness"  is  wanting,  it  constitutes  the  vvhole  char- 
acter in  the  sight  of  God.  Of  course  the  charac- 
ter of  all  unholy  men,  however  variously  compress- 
ed by  restraints,  is  specifically  the  same. 

What  then  does  our  text  affirm  of  all  unsanctifi- 
ed  men  *?  That  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  their  heart  is  only  evil  continually.  Language 
could  not  more  fully  or  plainly  assert  that  fundamen- 
tal doctrine  of  our  holy  religion  which  I  shall  lay 
at  the  foundation  of  these  lectures,  that  mankind  by 
nature  are  totally  depraved. 

But  what  is  meant  by  total  depravity*?  Not  that 
men  are  as  bad  as  they  can  be;  for  in  general  they 
lie  under  strong  restraints.  Not  that  they  are  all 
equally  wicked;  for  some  are  more  restrained  than 
others.  Not  that  they  are  destitute  of  every  thing 
useful  and  lovely  in  society;  their  humanity  and  so- 
cial affections  are  decidedly  of  this  character.  Not 
that  ihefo7in  of  tliL'ir  actions  is  always  wrong;  the 
contrary  is  manifestly  true.  It  is  only  meant  that 
.  they  are  utterly  destitute  of  holiness,  and  of  course 
I  are  sinful  so  far  as  their  feelings  and  actions  partake 
of  a  moral  nature.  It  certainly  is  not  meant  that 
they  are  necessarily  inclined  to  evil  without  the  pow- 
er of  resistance.  They  possess  ample  power,  and 
in  all  their  wickedness  are  voluntary  and  free. 

This  is  the  precise  shape  of  the  doctrine  to  be 
supported.  The  principal  arguments  on  which  it 
rests  will  be  detailed  in  this  and  the  three  following 
lectures. 

*  Mat.  V,  28.    Eph.  v.  6.    Col.  iii.  5.    1  John  iii.  15. 


LECT.    I.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  11 

Argument  I.  By  the  first  creation  or  birth  man- 
kind are  united  to  the  first  Adam  and  inherit  the 
character  which  he  possessed  immediately  after  the 
fall,  until  by  a  second  creation  or  birth  they  are 
united  to  the  second  Adam  and  become  partakers 
of  his  holiness. — It  is  necessary  to  view  this  argu- 
ment by  parts. 

I.  Depravity  is  derived  from  Adam.  This  is 
proved, 

(1.)  From  the  Mwzi;er5a/ depravity  of  man.  "God 
looked  upon  the  earth  and  behold  it  was  corrupt, 
for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way."  "The  Lord 
looked  down  from  heaven  upon  the  children  of  men 
to  see  if  there  were  any  that  did  understand  and 
seek  God.  They  are  all  gone  aside;  they  are  to- 
gether become  filthy;  there  is  none  that  doth  good, 
no  not  one.''''  "We  have  before  proved  both  Jews 
and  Gentiles  that  they  are  all  under  sin;  as  it  is 
written,  there  is  none  righteous,  no  not  one:  there  is 
none  that  understandeth;  there  is  none  that  seeketh 
after  God.  They  are  all  gone  out  of  the  way;  they 
are  together  become  unprofitable;  there  is  none  that 
doth  good,  no  not  one.  Therefore  by  the  deeds  of 
the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified."  "The 
Scripture  hath  concluded  all  under  sin,  that  the 
promise  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to 
them  that  believe."  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no 
sin  we  deceive  ourselves  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us. 
If  we  say  that  we  have  not  sinned  we  make  him  a 
liar  and  his  word  is  not  in  us."  God  "now  com- 
mandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent.'''"^ 

So  deeply  is  sin  rooted  in  the  human  heart  that 
the  continued  struggles  of  the  best  men^  with  all  the 
means  and  aids  derived  from  heaven,  have  never 
prevailed  in  a  single  instance  to  eradicate  it  entire- 
ly.    "Who  can  say,  I  have  made  my  heart  clean,  I 

*  Gen.  vi.  12.    Ps.  xiv.  2,  3.  and  cxxx.  3.    Acts  xvii.  30.     Rom.  iii. 
9—12,  20.    Gal.  iii.  22.    1  John  i.  8.  10. 


12  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    I. 

am  pure  from  my  sin'?"  "There  is  not  a  just  man 
upon  earth  that  doth  good  and  sinneth  not."  "In 
many  things  we  offend  all."  "For  there  is  no  man 
that  sinneth  not."^ 

Now  here  is  a  wonder  to  be  accounted  for, — sin 
tainting  every  individual  of  Adam's  race  in  every 
age,  country,  and  condition,  and  surviving  in  every 
heart  all  exertions  to  destroy  it.  One  would  think 
this  might  prove,  if  any  thing  could  prove,  that  sin 
belonss  to  the  nature  of  man.  as  much  as  reason  or 
speech,  (though  in  a  sense  altogether  compatible 
with  blame,Y)  and  must  be  derived,  like  other  uni- 
versal attributes  of  our  nature,  from  the  original 
parent, — propagated  precisely  like  reason  or  speech, 
(neither  of  which  is  exercised  at  first,) — ^propagated 
like  many  other  propensities,  mental  as  well  as 
bodily,  which  certainly  are  inherited  from  parents, 
— propagated  like  the  noxious  nature  of  other  ani- 
mals, if  the  phenomenon  is  not  accounted  for  in 
this  natural  and  easy  way,  so  analogous  to  that  great 
law  by  which  all  animals  propagate  their  kinds  and 
their  dispositions,  it  must  remain  to  the  end  of  the 
world  an  unsolvible  mystery.  I  prove  the  deriva- 
tion of  sin  from  Adam, 

(2.)  From  the  fact  that  mankind  are  born  de- 
praved. 

Whether  the  depravity  of  infants  consists  in  ex- 
ercises or  dispositions,  or  whether  from  the  first  or 
at  what  age  they  begin  actually  to  sin,  I  shall  by  no 
means  allow  myself  to  inquire.  Without  denying 
what  others  may  choose  to  assert  on  these  points, 
all  that  I  can  feel  authorized  to  say  is,  that,  as  the 
young  lion  is  born  not  an  elephant,  but  with  a  car- 
nivorous nature,  though  he  does  not  at  first  feed  on 

*1  Kings  viii.  46.    Prov.  xx.  9.    Eccl.  vii.  20.     James  iii.  2. 

t  Compatible  with  blame  because  an  hereditary  propensity  is  as  much 
the  spontaneous  action  of  the  heart  as  any  otherj  and  to  be  willing  is  lo  be 
free;  to  be  voluntanj  in  sin  is  to  be  blameworthy. 


*<t 


LECT.    I.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  13 

flesh;  and  as  the  serpent  is  not  a  dove,  but  possesses 
a  poisonous  nature,  while  yet  in  the  egg  ;  and  both 
will  certainly  act  out  their  peculiar  nature  when 
they  arrive  at  maturity ;  so  infiints  are  born  with  a 
nature  which,  not  by  necessity^  but  by  ike  free  consent 
of  the  heart,  will  in  all  cases  actually  sin  as  soon  as 
they  are  able.  Without  denying  that  more  is  true, 
I  mean  to  assert  no  more  when  I  speak  of  the  de- 
pravity of  infants  and  when  I  call  them  sinners. — 
Least  of  all  do  I  undertake  to  decide  on  their  con- 
dition in  a  future  world.  In  the  hands  of  divine 
mercy  I  leave  them,  and  bow  in  submissive  silence. 
That  infants  in  this  sense  are  depraved,  I  argue, 

[1.]  From  the  fact  already  established,  that  in 
all  ages  and  nations,  without  a  single  exception, 
they  do  sin  when  they  arrive  at  years  of  discretion. 
This  furnishes  the  same  evidence  that  they  are  born 
vi^ith  a  bent  to  evil,  that  is  furnished  by  the  univer- 
sal propensity  of  lions  to  feed  on  flesh,  that  they  are 
born  with  a  carnivorous  nature.     I  arsfue  this, 

[2.]  From  the  sufferings  and  death  of  infants. 
If  it  be  said  that  the  sufferings  and  death  of  brutes 
furnish  the  same  evidence  of  their  depravity,  I  ad- 
mit that  the  groans  of  the  irrational  creation,  as 
well  as  the  briers  and  thistles  of  the  ground,  prove 
that  the  nature  of  all  things  is  marred  by  the  sin  of 
man.  But  for  this  no  animals  would  have  been  car- 
nivorous, none  poisonous,  none  resentful.*  The 
fall  of  man,  though  it  could  not  infect  brutes  with 
wior«Z  depravity,  has  occasioned  a  real  depravation 
of  their  nature.  No  animals  are  found,  if  possessed 
of  sufficient  vigour,  which  are  not  capable  of  bitter 
animosity.  I  am  willing  to  regard  the  sufferings  of 
the  irrational  tribes  as  a  public  token  of  the  depra- 
vation of  their  nature ;  and  must  by  analogy  regard 
the  sufferings  and  death  of  infants  as  a  token  of  the 
depravity  of  a  nature  created  for  moral  action. 

*  Isa.  xi.  6. — 9.  and  kv.  26. 


14  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [leCT.    I. 

In  relation  to  mankind  it  is  a  fundamental  maxim 
of  divine  government  that  "the  curse  causeless  shall 
not  come."      "Whoever  perished  being   innocent.'' 
or  where  were   the  righteous  cut  off.^"^     I  forbear 
to  insist  on  the  several  recorded  instances  of  the  de- 
struction of  infants   expressly  in  token  of  God's  dis- 
pleasure against  sin,  as  at  the  time  of  the  flood,  the 
burning   of  Sodom,   (which    ten  righteous   persons 
would  have  saved, f)  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  the  de- 
struction of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  of  Achan, 
of  the  nations  of  Canaan,  of  Jerusalem,  of  Babylon  ; J 
as  also  the  express  command^  in  several  instances,  to 
destroy  infants  with  their  parents   as  a  punishment 
for  sin.§      I  forbear  to  insist  on   these;  for  in   that 
memorable  passage  in  the  5th  of  Romans,  the  apos- 
tle appears  to  have  settled  the  point  that  death  comes 
upon  the  whole    human   race,  (not   as  it  does    on 
brutes,)   in  consequence   of  their  sin,   of  nature   or 
practice.     "By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world, 
and  death  by  sin;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men 
for  that  all  have  sinned."     His  argument  plainly  rests 
on  the  principle  that  among  the  human  race,  (not 
among  brutes,)  the  empire  of  sin  and  that  of  death 
are  coextensive.      If  in   the   sequel  he   makes   the 
visible  ground  of  the  death  of  infants  to  be  the  pub- 
lic sin  of  Adam,  (a  point  which  I  freely  concede,) 
I  hope  to   show  hereafter,  that  for  the   posterity  of 
Adam  to  suffer  any  evil  on  account  of  his  sin,  is  it- 
self a  sufficient  proof  that  they  partake   of  his  de- 
pravity.    I  argue  the  depravity  of  infants, 

[3.]  From  their  need  of  a  Saviour  and  from 
their  being  brought  to  a  Saviour  in  baptism.  "We 
thus  judge,  that  ?/one  died  for  all  then  were  all  dead, 
and  that  he  died  for  a//."||  If  infants  are  saved  by 
Christ  certainly  they  are  sinners,  (in  the  sense  al- 

*  Job  iv.  7.  Prov.  xxvi.  2.  t  Gen.  xviii.  32.  i  Exod.  xii.  29.  Numb. 
xvi.  27 — 33.  Deut.  ii.  31.  and  iii.  6.  and  vii.  2.  and  xxxii.  25.  Josh.  vii. 
24,  25.  Isai.  xiii.  18.  Jer.  ix.  21.  and  xliv.  7.  Lam.  ii.  11,  19,  20.  and  iv. 
4,  10.     §  Num.  xxxi.  17.     1  Sam.  xv.  3.    Ezek.  ix.  6.     ||  2  Cor  v.  14,  15. 


LECT.    1.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  15 

ready  explained,)  for  he  came  to  save  none  but  sin- 
ners. "They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician, 
but  they  that  are  sick."^  Whoever  is  entitled  to 
salvation  hy  law  cannot  be  saved  hy  grace.  But  if 
infants  are  not  saved  by  grace  and  by  Christ,  why 
bring  them  to  him  in  baptism  and  fix  upon  them 
the  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace'?  If  they  are 
pure  why  sprinkle  them  with  water  as  if  they  were 
unclean?  Why  was  an  ordinance  instituted  to  set 
forth  their  need  of  purification']  If  children  are 
spotless  infant  baptism  is  a  jest.  But  their  depravity 
is  settled. 

[4.]  By  express  declarations  of  Scripture.  "Be- 
hold [  was  shapen  in  iniquity  and  in  sin  did  my 
mother  conceive  me."  "What  is  man  that  he 
should  be  clean,  and  he  which  is  born  of  a  woman 
that  he  should  be  righteous?"  "Who  can  bring  a 
clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean?"  "How  can  he  be 
clean  that  is  born  of  a  woman?"  "The  wicked  are 
estranged  from  the  womb;  they  go  astray  as  soon  as 
they  be  born."  "  I  knew  that  thou  wouldst  deal 
very  treacherously,  and  wast  called  a  transgressor 
from  the  womb."  "  Foolishness  is  bound  in  the 
heart  of  a  child."  "The  imagination  of  man's 
heart  is  evil  from  his  youth."  "The  children  of  Is- 
rael— have  only  done  evil  before  me  from  their 
youth."  "As  for  thy  nativity,  [alluding  to  the  pol- 
lution and  ruin  accompanying  the  first  birth,  and 
the  remedy  which  divine  mercy  provided,]  in  the 
day  thou  wast  born — thou  [wast  not]  washed  in  wa- 
ter,— but  thou  wast  cast  out  in  the  open  field  to  the 
loathing  of  thy  person  in  the  day  that  thou  wast  born. 
And  when  I  passed  by  thee  and  saw  thee  polluted  in 
thine  own  blood,  I  said  unto  thee  when  thou  wast 
in, thy  blood.  Live:  yea  I  said  unto  thee  when  thou 
wast  in  thy  blood,  Live."     "That  which  is  born  of 

*  Mat.  ix.  12, 13. 


16  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY,  [leCT.    I. 

flesh  isj^esA," — is  carnal.  "The  natural  man  receiv- 
eth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him."  *'Among  whom  we  all  had 
our  conversation, — and  were  hy  nature  the  children 
of  WTath  even  as  others."* 

Now  if  all  mankind  are  born  depraved,  there  is  the 
same  evidence  that  depravity  is  propagated  from 
father  to  son  through  all  generations,  as  that  speech 
or  reason  or  any  of  the  natural  affections  are, 
(though  in  a  sense  entirely  compatible  with  blame,) 
and  of  course  is  to  be  traced  equally  with  them  to 
the  original  parent. 

But  if  on  the  other  hand  infants  receive  their 
whole  nature  from  their  parents  pure, — if  when 
they  leave  the  duct  through  which  all  properties 
are  conveyed  from  ancestors  they  are  infected  with 
no  depravity,  it  is  plain  that  they  never  derive  a  taint 
of  moral  pollution  from  Adam.  There  can  be  no 
conveyance  after  they  are  born,  and  his  sin  was  in 
no  sense  the  occasion  of  the  universal  depravity  of 
the  world,  otherwise  than  merely  as  the  first  example. 
These  two  points,  the  depravity  of  infants  and  the 
derivation  of  sin  from  Adam,  stand  or  fall  together. 
Either  infants  are  born  depraved,  (just  as  they  are 
born  with  the  faculties  of  reason  and  speech,  and 
with  the  instincts  on  which  are  founded  the  natural 
affections,)  or  the  universal  depravity  of  man  no 
more  follows  from  the  sin  of  Adam  than  from  the 
sin  of  Noah.  I  prove  the  derivation  of  sin  from 
Adam, 

(3.)  From  the  fact  that  we  are  involved  by  him 
in  condemnation  and  punishment. 

In  condemnation  at  least  to  temporal  evils.  That 
all  the  temporal  evils  pronounced  upon  our  first 
parents,  the  toil  and  trouble,  the  thorns  and  thistles, 
the  state  of  female  subjection,  the  pains  of  child- 

*  Gen.  viii.  21.  Job  xiv.  4.  andxv.  14.  and  xxv.  4.  Ps.  li.  5.  and  Iviii. 
3.  Prov.  xxii.  15.  Isai.  xlvlii.  8.  Jer.  xxxii.  30.  Ezek.  xvi.  4;  5.  John 
iii.  6.    1  Cor.  ii.  14.  Eph.  ii.  3. 


LECT.    I.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  17 

birth,  and  death  itself,  do  in  fact  come  upon  their 
posterity,  not  casually,  but  according  to  the  orig- 
inal sentence,  is  so  evident  that  it  is  not  denied. 
Just  cast  your  eyes  however  on  the  following  texts: 
*'I  suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach  nor  to  usurp  author- 
ity over  the  man,  but  to  be  in  silence;  for  Adam 
was  first  formed,  then  Eve;  and  Adam  was  not  de- 
ceived, but  the  woman  being  deceived  was  in  the 
transgression.  Notwithstanding  she  shall  be  saved 
in  child-bearing  if  they  continue  in  faith  and  chari- 
ty." "Since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all 
die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  [And 
to  prolong  the  quotation  though  the  subject  changes,] 
— The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul,  the 
last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit.  Howbeit 
that  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which 
is  natural,  and  afterwards  that  which  is  spiritual. — 
The  first  man  is  of  the  earth  earthy,  the  second  man 
is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  As  is  the  earthy  such  are 
they  also  which  are  earthy,  and  as  is  the  heavenly 
such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly.  And  as  we 
have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also 
bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly."* 

It  has  been  said  that  the  temporal  evils  contem- 
plated in  the  original  sentence,  were  entailed  on 
mankind  merely  as  blessings.  But  how  could  they 
be  regarded  as  blessings  unless  the  race  were  view- 
ed as  sinners  standing  in  need  of  chastisement  ?  It  is 
no  blessing  to  a  perfectly  holy  being  to  suffer. — 
The  very  supposition  that  they  were  entailed  as  bless- 
ings gives  up  the  argument.  But  the  death  entail- 
ed, (and  by  a  parity  of  reason  all  the  temporal  suf- 
ferings which  come  by  Adam,)  is  represented  in  the 
5th  of  Romans,  not  as  a  mercy,  but  as  a  punishment 
following  a  sentence  of  condemnation. 

But  in  whatever  light  you  regard  these  sufferings, 

*  Gen.  iii.  16—19.    1  Cor.  xv.  21,  22,  45—49.    1  Tim.  ii.  2—15, 


18  TOTAL   DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    I. 

whether  as  blessings  or  punishments,  God  distinctly 
disclaims  the  principle  of  inflicting  them  on  innocent 
children  for  the  sins  of  the  parents.  At  the  time  of 
the  Babylonish  captivity  the  Jews  thought  they  had 
reason  to  complain,  "The  fathers  have  eaten  sour 
grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge." — 
Ezekiel  was  sent  to  reprove  them  and  to  say, 
"What  mean  ye  that  ye  use  this  proverb? — The 
soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die. — If  he  beget  a  son  that 
seeth  all  his  father's  sins — and  doth  not  such  like, — 
he  shall  not  die  for  the  iniquity  of  his  father;  he 
shall  surely  live.  Yet  say  ye,  Why,  doth  not  the 
son  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father?  When  the  son 
hath  done  that  which  is  lawful  and  right, — he  shall 
surely  live.  The  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of 
the  father,  neither  shall  tlie  father  bear  the  iniquity  of 
the  son:  the  riohteousness  of  the  riojhteous  shall  be 
upon  /i/w,  and  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  shall  be 
upon  /iwz."  God  indeed  visits  "the  iniquity  of  the 
fiithsrs  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation,"  but  it  is  upon  the  generations  ^^ofthem 
that  hate''^  him.  When  Josiah  confessed,  "Great  is 
the  wrath  of  the  Lord  that  is  kindled  against  us  be- 
cause ovr  fathers  have  not  hearkened,"  the  answer 
was,  "I  will  bring  evil  upon  this  place  and  upon  the 
inhabitants  thereof — because  they  have  forsaken 
me."  They  suffered  for  the  sins  of  their  fathers  be- 
cause they  partook  of  their  fathers'  sins.  On  the 
same  principle  the  sins  of  persecuting  ancestors 
were  visited  upon  that  generation  who  persecuted 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  "Behold  I  send  unto  you 
prophets  and  wise  men  and  scribes;  and  some  of 
them  ye  shall  kill  and  crucify,  and  some  of  them 
shall  ye  scourge  in  your  synagogues,  and  persecute 
them  from  city  to  city;  that  upon  you  may  come  all 
the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the  blood 
of  righteous  Abel  unto  the  blood  of  Zacharias,  son 
of  Barachias,  whom  ye  slew,  [the  crime  had  been 


LECT.    I.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  19 

committed  five  hundred  years  before,]  between  the 
temple  and  the  altar.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  all 
these  things  shall  come  upon  this  generation."  For 
the  same  reason  the  sin  of  Esau  was  visited  upon 
his  posterity.  "For  three  transgressions  of  Edom 
and  for  four  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
thereof;  because  he  did  pursue  his  brother  with  the 
sword,  and  did  cast  off  all  pity,  and  his  anger  did 
ie^x  perpetually,  and  kept  his  wrath /orever."  Pre- 
cisely for  the  same  reason  the  sin  of  Adam  is  visited 
upon  his  posterity  in  temporal  calamities  and  death. 
"T%  first  father  hath  sinned  and  thy  teachers  have 
transgressed  against  me;  therefore  I  have  profaned 
the  princes  of  the  sanctuary,  and  have  given  Jacob 
to  the  curse  and  Israel  to  reproaches."*  Thus 
the  temporal  evils  entailed  on  men  for  the  sin  of 
Adam  incontestably  prove  that  they  partake  of  his 
depravity. 

There  is  one  passage  which  has  been  understood 
to  assert  that  the  posterity  of  Adam  are  condemned 
for  his  sin  to  eternal  death.  The  passage  is  in  the 
5th  of  Romans.  It  certainly  athrms  that  they  are 
condemned  for  his  sin;  but  whether  to  temporal  only 
or  to  eternal  death,  is  a  question  which  I  have  no 
call  to  decide.  Whichever  death  is  intended  the 
passage  opens  to  my  view  the  following  theory. 
Adam  was  the  federal  head  of  his  posterity.  The 
covenant  with  him  provided  that  if  he  stood  they 
stood,  if  he  fell  they  fell.  It  made  him  the  root 
from  which  all  the  branches  should  derive  their  na- 
ture. It  was  as  though  they  had  all  been  contem- 
porary with  him,  and  with  their  hearts  his  heart  had 
been  connected  by  innumerable  conductors  to  con- 
vey instantly  his  purity  or  poison  to  them.  Thus 
inseparably  united  in  temper,  his  public  transgres- 
sion was  as  much  the  index  of  their  hearts  as  of  his 

*  Exod.  XX.  5.    2  King.  xxii.  13,  16,  17.     Isai.  xliii.  27,  28.    Ezek.  xviii. 
1—20.    Amos  i.  11.    Zech.  i.  1.    Mat.  xxiii.  34—36. 


20  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    I. 

own, — as  much  the  index  of  their  hearts  as  though  it 
had  been  their  own  hand  which  had  plucked  the 
forbidden  fruit.  His  public  act,  standing  thus  in 
the  place  of  an  external  act  of  theirs,  becanrie  the 
ground  of  their  pw^/zc  condemnation,  (whatever  the 
sentence  included,)  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the 
outward  act  is  in  any  case  the  ground  of  condem- 
nation. In  no  case  is  it  the  ground  otherwise  than 
as  being,  or  as  supposed  to  be,  the  index  of  the 
heart.  And  Adam's  posterity  would  not  have  been 
condemned  for  his  act  had  not  their  hearts  been  as 
completely  indicated  by  it  as  they  could  have  been 
by  any  act  of  their  own.  Of  course  every  evil  de- 
nounced against  them  for  his  sin,  (whether  tempo- 
ral or  eternal,)  proves  that  they  partake  of  his  de- 
pravity. 

(4.)  The  derivation  of  sin  from  Adam  is  sup- 
ported by  other  passages  of  Scripture.  Of  these 
however  I  shall  mention  but  two.  "  Adam — begot 
a  son  in  his  own  likeness,  after  his  image."  Was 
it  necessary  after  mankind  had  seen  animals  propa- 
gate their  kinds  for  twenty-five  hundred  years,  for  ; 
Moses  to  inform  the  world  that  Adam  begot  a  son 
with  a  body  shaped  like  his  own^  In  the  other  pas- 
sage the  original  righteousness  and  the  subsequent 
sins  of  man  are  spoken  of  as  the  righteousness  and 
sins  of  the  species^  as  if  the  whole  race  lost  their 
original  holiness  in  Adam:  '*Lo  this  only  have  I 
found,  that  God  hath  made  man  upright,  but  they 
have  sought  out  many  inventions."^ 

Thus  I  have  shown  in  the  first  part  of  the  argu- 
ment, that  depravity  is  derived  from  Adam.  I  am 
now  to  show  you, 

II.     That  this  depravity  is  total. 
(1.)     Adam  himself  sunk  into   total  depravity  as 
soon   as  he  had    broken   the   covenant.     That   the 
wages  of  sin  involved  abandonment  to  unmixed  de- 

*  Gen.  V.  3.    Eccl.  vii.  29. 


LECT.    1.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  21 

pravity,  I  suppose  will  not  be  denied.  One  thing  is 
certain,  from  that  moment  he  could  receive  no  fa- 
vor but  by  grace;  for  grace  is  favor  to  the  ill-deserv' 
ing.  No  divine  influence  could  from  that  moment 
work  holiness  in  his  heart  without  being  an  opera- 
tion of  grace,  or  favor  to  the  ill-deserving.  If  such 
an  influence  was  necessary  to  make  him  holy,  he 
must  have  remained  utterly  destitute  of  holiness  till 
it  was  given  him  by  ^?'«ce.  Every  man  then  who 
believes  that  God  is  the  source  of  holiness  in  any 
other  sense  than  by  creating  rational  beings  and 
leaving  them  to  themselves,  must  believe  that  the 
fallen  Adam  was  totally  depraved  till  restored  by 
the  dispensation  of  grace. 

(2.)  Adam  transmitted  to  his  posterity  the  na- 
ture which  he  possessed  immediately  after  the  fall, 
not  the  nature  which  he  received  by  grace.  The 
moment  he  broke  covenant  by  one  offence,  he  had 
done  all  that  he  could  do  to  fix  the  character  and 
fate  of  his  oftspring.*  He  was  their  federal  head 
in  his  fall  but  not  in  his  reascent.  He  left  them 
there,  to  be  raised,  not  by  him,  but  by  Christ.  The 
idea  that  he  became  restored  and  propagated  that 
restored  nature  to  his  seed,  is  making  him  the  fed- 
eral head  in  the  restoration  of  the  world, — is  putting 
him  exactly  in  the  place  of  the  Second  Adam. — 
But  the  experience  of  a  hundred  generations  evin- 
ces that  grace  is  not  hereditary. 

It  is  apparent  then  that  the  posterity  of  Adam, 
viewed  as  existing  immediately  after  the  fall,  were  to- 
tally depraved:  and  if  any  or  all  of  them  were  ever 
to  be  restored  to  the  lowest  degree  of  holiness,  it 
was  to  be  accomplished  by  Christ  under  the  dispen- 
sation of  grace.     Let  us  then  inquire, 

(3.).  Whether  the  race  were  so  restored  by  Christ 
at  the  time  of  the  first  promise  in  Eden,  that  they 
come  into  the  world  in  successive  generations  oth- 

*Rom  V.  12—21. 

3 


22  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    I. 

erwise  than  totally  depraved.*     To  this  question  I 
answer, 

[1.]  That  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence 
that  the  posterity  of  Adam  were  at  all  affected  by 
his  sin,  except  what  is  contained  in  those  declara- 
tions and  facts  which  apply  to  them  exclusively 
after  they  come  into  existence.  Cast  your  eye  over  the 
texts  on  which  all  our  knowledge  of  the  connexion 
between  Adam  and  his  posterity  depends,  and  you 
will  find  them  uniformly  referring  to  a  posterity  in 
actual  existence  and  no  other.  The  notion  that 
greater  evils  were  antecedently  denounced  against 
that  posterity  by  law  than  they  actually  find  at  their 
entrance  on  existence,  (bating  the  chance  for  resto- 
ration arising  from  the  dispensation  of  grace,)  is  a 
fancy  unsupported  by  a  single  hint  in  all  the  Bible. 
[2.]  This  opinion  has  arisen  from  two  mistakes: 
First,  from  the  idea  that  infants  are  born  pure. — 
This  has  been  shown  to  be  an  error;  but  if  it  were 
not,  it  would  not  justify  the  notion  of  an  antecedent 
restoration.  If  infants  are  born  pure,  as  they  can 
draw  no  pollution  from  Adam  afterwards,  they  never 
derive  any  depravity  from  him.  Those  texts  then 
which  relate  to  Adam's  posterity  must  not  be  under- 
stood to  import  that  an  eccisting  posterity  are  taint- 
ed by  his  fall.  But  no  other  posterity  are  referred 
to  in  any  text  in  the  Bible.  We  are  left  then  with- 
out a  particle  of  proof  that  the  posterity  of  Adam 
fell  with  him  in  any  sense.  But  if  they  did  not  fall 
they  could  not  be  restored.  Thus  take  away  the 
depravity  of  infants  and  you  find  no  occasion  for  this 

*It  has  been  said  that  mankincl  would  have  been  left  by  the  fall  in  as 
deplorable  a  condition  as  the  author  represents,  had  not  a  Saviour  been 
provided;  but  by  this  provision  their  lapsed  powers  have  been  restored 
and  they  have  come  into  the  world  in  every  generation  with  minds  resem- 
bling a  sheet  of  white  paper — without  a  stain,  but  susceptible  indifferently 
of  good  and  bad  impressions.  As  a  species,  according  to  this  hypothesis, 
ihey  boUi  fell  and  were  restored  before  any  posterity  existed.  This  idea 
of  an  antecedent  restoration  is  what  the  author  has  endeavored  to  meet. 


!    3L.ECT.    I.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY,  23 

antecedent  restoration;  admit  their  depravity  and  it 
is  manifest  they  are  not  restored. 

Secondly,  this  opinion  has  arisen  from  the  idea 
that  the  lapsed  powers  of  man  needed  to  be  repair- 
ed to  fit  him  for  a  state  of  probation.  Lapsed  pow- 
ers repaired!  What  powers  had  lapsed?  Not  the 
natural  powers.  Who  will  prove  that  Satan  himself 
has  not  as  vit]forous  an  understandins;  as  he  had  in 
heaven?  fVill  and  affections  he  also  has,  and  is  a 
complete  moral  agent,  and  is  blamed  and  punished 
for  sins  committed  since  his  fall, — for  seducing  our 
first  parents  and  for  all  his  enterprises  against  Christ 
and  his  Church.  Nothing  is  necessary  to  turn  that 
apostate  into  an  angel  of  light  but  a  new  heart. 
And  what  powers  had  men  lost  that  needed  to  be  re- 
stored'? They  still  possessed  understanding,  will, 
and  affections.  They  still  were  complete  moral 
agents,  with  full  ability  to  perform  their  whole  duty 
if  rightly  disposed.  All  that  had  befallen  them  was, 
their  hearts  ivere  inclined  to  evil.  But  how  could  this 
be  remedied  except  by  making  them  holy'?  And 
was  it  absolutely  necessary  to  make  them  holy  be- 
fore  putting  them  on  probation?      The  very  object 

I  of  the  probation  was  to  decide  whether  they  would  he 
holy.  For  this  trial  what  powers  could  they  want 
but  enough  to  render  them  moral  agents?  These 
they  had;  what  more  was  it  possible  for  them  to 
possess? 

The  fancy  of  an  antecedent  restoration  being 
thus  removed,  we  are  thrown  back  to  the  conclu- 

j  sion  that  men  are  born  into  the  world  as  they  were 

j  left   by    the    fall   of    Adam,   in   a   state    of    total 

I  depravity. 

III. .  In  this  state  they  continued  till  by  a  second 

I  creation  or  birth  they  are  united  to  the  second 
Adam  and  become  partakers  of  his  holiness. 

In  this  position  two  ideas  are  contained;  viz.  that 

I  the  new  creation  or  birth  first  unites  them  to  Christ, 


24  TOTAL   DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    I. 

and  that  till  this  union  they  remain  destitute  of  ho- 
liness. Both  of  these  positions  are  sustained  as 
well  by  analogy  as  Scripture. 

As  men  are  united  in  depravity  and  condemnation 
to  the  first  Adam  by  the  first  birth  or  creation,  analo- 
gy requires  that  they  should  be  united  in  holiness 
and  justification  to  the  second  Adam  by  nothing  less 
than  a  second  creation  or  MrtL  As  they  do  not  share 
in  the  depravity  of  the  first  Adam  till  they  are  born 
or  created,  analogy  requires  that  they  should  not 
share  in  the  holiness  of  the  second  Adam  till  they 
are  created  or  born  again.  As  they  do  not  share  in 
the  depravity  of  the  first  Adam  earlier  than  they 
partake  of  his  condemnation,  (whatever  that  condem- 
nation implies,)  analogy  requires  that  they  should 
not  partake  of  the  holiness  of  the  second  Adam  till 
that  union  to  him  by  which  they  become  completely 
justified.  In  a  word,  analogy  requires  the  new  cre- 
ation or  birth  should  be  that  great  revolution  by 
which  mankind  become  first  united  to  Christ  in 
holiness,  and  compleiely  united  to  him  in  jnstifiication. 

What  is  thus  suggested  by  analogy  is  abundantly 
confirmed  by  Scripture.  That  teaches  us  that  men 
are  first  united  to  Christ  by  the  new  creation:  "If 
any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature;"  (then 
there  is  no  union  to  Christ  before  the  new  creation:) 
"We  are  His  workmanship  created  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  good  works;"  (then  there  is  no  new  creation 
earlier  than  a  union  to  Christ.)  That  teaches  us 
that  until  the  new  creation  and  union  to  Christ  the 
old  nature  remains  entire,  and  that  a  nature  alto- 
gether new  is  at  that  time  imparted:  "If  any  man 
be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature;  old  things  are 
past  away,  behold  all  things  are  become  new.  ^^They 
that  are  Chrisfs^  [and  if  the  assertion  has  any  mean- 
ing, none  but  they,']  have  crucified  the  fiesh.^'  By 
flesh  is  meant  all  that  man  is  morally  by  the  first 
birth:     "That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is^esA." — 


LECT.    I.]  TOTAL   DEPRAVITY.  25 

None  therefore  but  those  who  are  united  to  Christ  have 
begun  to  crucify  the  nature  with  which  they  were 
born.  None  begin  to  "put  off  the  oZc?  man"  till  they 
begin  to  "put  on  the  new;^^  but  to  "put  on  the  new^ 
man"  is  to  become  "a  new  creatureJ^  As  might 
therefore  be  expected,  the  two  births  are  represent- 
ed as  the  two  sources,  if  I  may  so  say,  of  all  the 
moral  qualities  which  men  ever  possess.  The  whole 
is  told  when  it  is  said,  "That  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
spirit."  Hence  under  the  two  denominations  of 
flesh  and  spirit,  (every  where  set  in  the  strongest 
opposition  to  each  other  J  are  comprehended  all  the 
moral  qualities  of  the  human  race.  The  whole 
warfare  between  contending  principles  is  expressed 
in  these  words,  "The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit 
and  the  spirit  against  the  flesh,  and  these  are  con- 
trary the  one  to  the  other."  Hence  mankind  are 
represented  as  remaining  (under  the  denomination 
of  natwal  men)  what  they  were  by  nature,  till  they 
become  spiritual  men  by  receiving  the  Spirit  of 
God:  "TAe  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him; 
neither  can  he  know  them  because  they  are  spirit- 
ually  discerned;  but  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all 
things."  And  hence  the  term  natural^  under  which 
is  included  every  moral  quality  not  derived  from  the 
spirit,  is  used  as  synonymous  with  fleshly,  sensual^ 
wicked:  "These  ["mockers, — who  walk  after  their 
own  ungodly  lusts,"  are]  natural,  having  not  the 
Spirit."  "This  wisdom  decendeth  not  from  above, 
but  is  earthly,  natural,  devilish.""^ 

But  the  evidence  arising  from  the  new  creation 
or  birth  is  worthy  to  be  presented  in  the  form  of  a 
distinct  argument,  and  in  this  shape  shall  appear  in 
the  following  lecture. 

*John  iii.  6.    1  Cor.  ii.  14, 15.    2  Cor.  v.  17.    Gal.  v.  11,  24.    Eph.  ii. 
10,    James  iii.  15.    Jude  19. 

^3 


LECTURE    II. 


SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 


GENESIS  vi.  5. 

akd  god  saw  that  the  -wickedness  of  man  was  great  in  the 
earth,  and  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart  was  only  eyil  continually. 


Argument  II.  There  is  a  change  wrought  in 
the  elect  in  some  part  of  their  lives,  by  which  they 
receive  the  first  holy  principle:  of  course  they  pos- 
sessed no  holiness  before. 

That  this  change  introduces  the  first  holy  princi- 
ple is  apparent  from  the  names  by  which  it  is  called. 
Of  these  the  most  remarkable  are  the  new  creation 
and  new  birth.  If  these  names  are  not  utterly  insig- 
nificant they  import  the  beginning  of  life.  Now 
in  the  language  of  Scripture  spiritual  life  is  holi- 
ness.'^ As  then  the  first  birth  or  creation  is  the  be- 
ginning of  natural  life,  the  new  creation  or  birth,  if 
these  terms  have  any  meaning,  must  be  the  begin- 
ning of  holiness.  To  say  that  these  names  denote  a 
progress  in  spiritual  life,  is  to  say  that  the  new  ere- 

*  Rom.  vi.  4—13.  and  viii.  6,  10.  and  xi.  15.    Eph.  ii.  1.    Col.  iii.  3. 


LECT.  II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  27 

ation  or  birth  is  repeated  upon  Christians  every  day. 
But  why  call  a  progress  in  life  a  creation  or  birth, 
rather  than  by  any  other  name  to  be  found  in  lan- 
guage. To  be  consistent  you  must  call  the  progress 
from  youth  to  manhood  a  creation  and  a  birth. 

The  very  phrases  new  creation  and  new  birth  carry 
in  them  an  intimation  that  the  first  creation  or  birth 
was  totally  defective,  and  must  be  entirely  done 
over  again;  that  the  defect  can  be  remedied  by  no 
other  means;  that  we  remain  what  the  first  creation 
or  birth  made  us  until  new  made  and  new  born;  and 
that  something  is  produced  in  this  change  which  did 
not  exist  before.  What  is  a  new  creation  if  nothing 
new  is  created?  What  is  a  new  birth  if  nothing  new 
is  born? 

This  argument  must  be  conclusive  if  the  terms 
under  consideration  really  denote  the  beginning  of 
spiritual  life  in  the  soul.  One  of  three  things  must 
be  true.  They  denote  the  beginning  of  spiritual  life 
in  the  soul,  or  the  progress  of  that  life,  or  something 
distinct  from  inward  holiness.  To  apply  them  to 
the  progress  of  that  life,  is  exactly  like  calling 
the  advance //-om  youth  to  manhood  a  creation  and  a 
birth.  That  fancy  must  be  given  up.  Only  this  al- 
ternative then  remains:  either  the  terms  denote  the 
beginning  of  holiness  in  the  soul,  (and  then  the  ar- 
gument is  irresistible,)  or  they  denote  something 
distinct  from  inward  holiness.  The  latter  has  been 
asserted.  The  only  Vv^ay  attempted  to  avoid  the 
force  of  this  argument,  has  been  to  allege  that  noth- 
ing more  is  meant  by  the  new  creation  than  a  con- 
version from  pagan  or  Jewish  darkness  to  the  pro- 
fession of  Christianity,  and  nothing  more  by  the  nev^r 
birth  than  an  introduction  to  the  visible  Church  by 
baptism.  The  decisive  question  to  be  tried  then  is 
this,  do  these  terms  denote  the  production  of  real 
holiness  of  heart,  or  a  mere  introduction  to  the  visi- 
ble Church  from  a  pagan,  Jewish,  or  Gospel  state.^ 


28  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.  II. 

Before  putting  this  question  to  trial  I  will  make 
two  preliminary  remarks. 

First,  if  these  and  other  terms  of  similar  import 
were  used  in  primitive  times  to  denote  that  revolu- 
tion which  took  place  at  the  translation  of  men 
from  pagan  or  Jewish  darkness  and  sin  into  the  light 
and  holiness  of  the  Christian  state,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  suppose  that  they  expressed  merely  or 
chiefly  the  outivard  change.  If  they  were  applied 
in  the  absolute  form  to  visible  Christians;  if  in  the 
lips  of  men  they  even  became  proper  names  of 
what  was  apparent  to  the  eye  in  the  Christian  charac- 
ter; it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  they  were  used, 
not  to  denote  a  hypocritical  show,  but  to  distinguish 
what  was  deemed  an  expression  and  evidence  of 
the  change  within.  When  we  point  to  the  visible 
figure  of  a  human  being  and  call  it  a  man,  we  do 
not  mean  to  overlook  the  soul  that  chiefly  consti- 
tutes him  such.  If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  inward 
holiness,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  outward  holiness, 
and  in  the  languages  of  men  the  outward  and  in- 
ward character  will  be  called  by  the  same  name. — 
We  daily  speak  in  the  absolute  form  of  men's  con- 
version, without  meaning  to  say  that  conversion  is 
a  mere  visible  change.  We  call  a  man  who  is  ex- 
ternally good,  a  good  man,  and  one  who  makes  a 
credible  profession  of  Christianity,  a  Christian; 
though  we  know  that  these  names  imply  and  chiefly 
express  an  inward  character.  Honest  man,  friend, 
and  all  the  terms  descriptive  of  character,  are  daily 
used  in  the  same  way.  And  because  you  apply 
such  appellations  to  men  whose  hearts  you  cannot 
know,  is  it  to  be  inferred  that  there  are  honest  men 
QVid  friends  who  are  not  so  in  hearth  If  the  visible 
churches  to  whom  the  Epistles  were  written  were 
called  "saints,"  "holy  brethren,"  "faithful,"  "beloved 
of  God,"  "elect,"  'justified,"  "sanctified  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  "partakers  of  the  divine  nature,"  "children 


LECT.    II.]  TOTAL  DEPRAVITY.  2^ 

of  God,"  "joint  heirs  with  Christ,"  it  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  that  these  titles  denoted  merely  an  out- 
ward character  and  condition.  Nor  can  they  be  so 
understood  unless  Christianity  is  altogether  an  out- 
side thing,  in  no  degree  intended  to  cleanse  the 
fountain  of  action  or  form  the  temper  for  a  fu- 
ture   lite. 

Secondly,  if  the  terms  under  consideration  really 
denoted  ari  inivarcl  change  in  Jews  and  pagans,  the 
same  change  must  be  wrought  in  people  in  a  Gos- 
pel land  unless  they  alreadij  possessed  the  temper  de- 
noted hy  the  terms.  If  any  can  be  found  who  are 
not  what  is  really  intended  by  new  creatures  and  new 
horn,  it  is  plain  that  they  must  be  created  and  born 
anew.  But  whether  all  the  inhabilants  of  Christen- 
dom, or  even  all  within  the  pale  of  the  Christian 
Church,  do  possess  such  a  character,  will  appear 
when  the  import  of  these  terms  comes  to  be  examined. 

Now  for  the  trial  of  the  question.  Do  the  terms 
new  creation  and  new  birth  denote  the  production  of 
real  holiness  of  heart,  or  a  mere  introduction  to  the 
visible  Church  from  a  pagan,  Jewish,  or  Gospel  state.? 
Let  us  examine  the  two  phrases  separately. 

First,  of  the  new  creation.  It  is  by  this  operation 
that  "the  new  creature"  or  "new  man"  is  formed. — 
What  account  then  have  we  of  the  new  creature  or 

new  man"?  ^  ,      .     ^7   •  .      u^xr 

To  be  a  new  creature  is  to  be  m  Christ:  We 
are  his  workmanship  created  in  Christ  Jesus."  Un- 
less then  a  union  to  the  visible  Church  actually 
unites  one  to  Christ,  something  more  is  meant  by 
the  new  creation.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  be 
a  new  creature  in  order  to  be  in  Christ:  "If  any 
man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature."  Unless 
then  a  union  to  the  visible  Church  is  essential  to  a 
union  with  Christ,  something  more  is  meant  by  the 
new  creation.^ 

*  2  Cor.  V.  17.    Eph.  ii.  10. 


3 


! 


30  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II. 

Here  let  us  settle  once  for  all  what  is  meant  by 
being  in  Christ.  To  be  in  Christ  is  to  be  so  immur- 
ed as  it  were  in  him  as  to  bo  completely  sheltered 
from  condemnation:  "There  is — now  no  condem- 
nation to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus.^^  It  is  to 
be  "members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his 
bones:"  "So  we  being  many  are  one  body  in 
Christ.'^''  It  is  to  have  a  sure  title  to  all  the  prom- 
ises. The  promises  were  all  made  to  Christ,  and  are 
represented  as  laid  up  in  him  for  all  who  are  there 
inclosed:  "To  Abraham  and  his  Seed  were  the 
promises  made:  He  saith  not,  And  to  seeds,  as  of 
many,  but  as  of  One,  and  to  thy  Seed,  which  is 
Christ."  "That  the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow  heirs 
and  of  the  same  body  and  partakers  of  his  promise 
in  Christ.''^  "For  all  the  promises  of  God  in  him 
are  yea  and  in  him  amen."  To  be  in  Christ  is  to  be 
in  him  as  in  a  house  which  will  inclose  us  after  all 
visible  churches  shall  cease, — which  will  inclose  us 
when  we  lie  in  the  grave  and  when  we  rise.  The 
apostle  speaks  of  those  who  had  "fallen  asleep  in 
Christ,''^  and  says  that  "the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first."  In  short  this  was  a  common  expression  used 
by  the  apostles  to  denote  the  union  of  rsa/ Christians 
to  Christ."  And  all  this  is  implied  in  being  a  new 
creature. 

To  be  a  7iew  creature  is  to  possess  that  faith  which 
worketh  by  love  and  avails  to  salvation.  Compare 
the  two  following  texts,  standing  near  each  other  in 
the  same  Epistle:  "For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  cir- 
cumcision availeth  any  thing  nor  uncircumcision, 
but  a  new  creature.'^''  "For  in  Jesus  Christ  neither 
circumcision  availeth  any  thing  nor  uncircumcision, 
hni  faith  which  worketh  by  love.^^  Again,  as  far  as 
the  new  creation  proceeds  it  annihilates  the  nature 

•  *  Rom.  viii.  1.  and  xii.  5.  and  xvi.  7.  1  Cor.  iii.  1.  and  xv.  18,  22.  2 
Cor.  i.  20,  21.  and  xii.  2.  Gal,  i.  22.  and  iii.  16.  Eph.  iii.  6.  and  v.  30. 
1  Thes.  iv.  16. 


LECT.    IT.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  31 

with  which  we  were  born  and  produces  something 
entirely  new:     "If  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new 
creature:    old  things  are  passed  away,  behold  \ll.  things 
are  become  new."     Again,  to  become  a  new  creature 
or  new  man  is  to  be  dehvered  from  the  power  of  sin 
and  to  be  made  holy  in  heart  and  life:     "We  are  his 
workmanship  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works," 
"Our  old  man  is  crucified  with  him,  that  the  body  of 
sin  might  be  destroyed"     "Lie  not  one    to   another 
seeing  ye  have   put  of  the   old  man  with  his  deeds, 
and  have   put  on  the  new  man  which  is  renewed  in 
knowledge  after   the  image  of  him  that  creat- 
ed HIM."     What  more  do  you  require?     Show  me, 
you  say,  a  text   which  plainly  declares  that  the  new 
j   creation   produces  true   holiness.      That    text  you 
shall  see.     "That  ye  put  off  concerning  the  former 
conversation  the  old  man  which  is  corrupt  according 
to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  be   renewed  in  the  spirit  of 
your  minds ;  and  that  ye  put  on   the  new  man  which 
AFTER  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness."^ 

If  these  texts  do  not  establish  the  point  that  the 
new  creation  is  something  more  than  a  change  in 
the  outward  character  and  condition; — if  to  be  re- 
newed in  the  spirit  of  our  mind  after  the  image  of  him 
that  created  us, — \^ after  God  to  be  created  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness,  does  not  mean  to  be  made  holy 
as  he  is  holy,  it  is  impossible  to  express  that  idea  in 
language.     Let  us  now  turn, 

Secondly,  to  the  new  birth.  The  meaning  of  this 
phrase  cannot  be  mistaken  if  you  attend  to  the 
figure  as  it  is  carried  out  in  the  cause,  means,  and 
eft'ects.  The  subjects  of  the  new  birth  are  be- 
gotten of  God  by  the  incorruptible  seed  of  the  word, 
— are  born  his  children,  the  seed  of  Christ,  the  heirs 
of  God,  ?i\-\^  joint  heirs  with  his  Son.     That  all  these 

*  Rom.  vi.  6.    2  Cor.  v.  17.     Gal.  v.  6.  and  vi.  15.      Eph.  ii.  10.  and  iv. 
22—24.    Col.  iii.  9, 10. 


32  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II. 

terms  are  only  the  expansion  of  the  same  figure  and 
refer  to  one  and  the  same  change,  will  be  seen  by  a 
single  glance  at  the  following  texts: 

Whosoever  believeth — is  horn  of  God;  and  every 
one  that  loveth  him  that  hegat^  loveth  him  also  that 
is  begotten  of  him.  By  this  we  know  that  we  love 
the  children  of  God,  when  we  love  God." 

"Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin; 
for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him,  and  he  cannot  sin  be- 
cause he  is  born  of  God.  In  this  the  cJiildreji  of  God 
are  manifest  and  the  children  of  the  devil." 

"To  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of 
God;  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God." 

"The  children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for 
the  seed. 

"If  children  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs 
with  Christ." 

"He  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration, — 
that — we  should  be  made  heirs.''^ 

"According  to  his  abundant  mercy  [he]  hath 
begotten  us  again — to  an  inheritance  incorruptible; — 
horn  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed  but  of  incorrup- 
tible, by  the  word  of  God."* 

Thus  to  be  begotten  and  born  of  God  is  to  be  made 
his  children,  the  seed  of  Christ,  and  the  heirs  of  glory. 
If  then  to  be  the  children  of  God,  the  seed  of 
Christ,  and  the  heirs  of  glory,  implies  any  thing 
more  than  an  outward  character  and  condition, — if 
all  this  implies  real  holiness,  to  be  born  again  implies 
the  same.  Pray  are  none  the  children  of  God,  the 
seed  of  Christ,  and  the  heirs  of  glory,  in  a  higher 
sense  than  as  members  of  the  visible  Church?  If 
they  are,  is  that  higher  sense  any  where  expressed  in 
the  Bible.^    If  it  is,  in  what  terms  unless  in  those  now 

*  John  i.  12, 13,  Rom.  vili.  17.  and  ix.  8.  Tit.  iii.  5,  7.  1  Pet.  i.  3,  4, 
23.     1  John  iii.  9,  10.  and  v.  1,  2. 


LECT.  II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  33 

under  consideration?  But  if  in  the  true  and  proper 
meaning  of  these  terms  the  higher  sense  is  contain- 
ed, then  when  they  are  applied  to  the  visible  Church 
they  are  applied  to  it  as  visibly  possessing  this  char- 
acter. Thus  we  every  day  call  a  visible  church  a 
collection  of  Christians,  without  meaning  to  say 
that  the  whole  Christian  character  is  an  outside 
thing.  But  in  whatever  sense  men  are  the  children 
of  God,  the  seed  of  Christ,  and  the  heirs  of  glory, 
whether  visibly  or  really,  in  the  same  sense  and  no 
other  are  thev  begotten  and  born  of  God.  But  to 
limit  the  meaning  of  the  new  birth  to  a  relation  to 
the  visible  Church,  is  to  say  that  men  are  really  and 
in  the  highest  sense  born  of  God  when  they  only  visibly 
become  his  children  and  heirs. 

Let  us  now  descend  to  a  more  particular  examin- 
ation of  the  meaning  of  these  terms,  begotten  and 
horn  of  God,  children  of  God,  and  seed  of  Christ. 

Begotten  and  born  of  God.  These  terms  denote  a 
change  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation;  and  that  is 
more  than  any  of  us  would  be  willing  to  say  of  a 
union  with  the  visible  Church.  "Verily,  verily  I 
say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God."  They  denote  such  a 
change  as  took  place  in  Paul,  not  when  he  was 
baptised,  but  when  he  fell  on  the  plains  of  Damascus: 
"Last  of  all  he  was  seen  of  me  also,  as  of  one  born 
out  of  due  time."  They  denote  a  change  which  to 
Nicodemus  appeared,  after  Christ  himself  had  ex- 
plained it,  altogether  mysterious, — a  change  wrought 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  by  operations  which  can  no 
more  be  seen  or  calculated  on  or  accounted  for  than 
the  motions  of  the  wind.  "Verily,  verily  I  say  unto 
thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. — 
The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest 
the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  Com- 
eth and  whither  it  goeth;   so  is  every  one  that  is  born 


34  TOTAL   DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.  II. 

of  the  Spirit^  ^^Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us."  "Which 
were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  ofinan,  [certainly  then  not  merely  by 
entering  the  Church^  but  of  God.^^  The  terms  im- 
port the  production  of  that  faith  which  accepts  Christ 
and  triumphs  over  the  world:  "As  many  as  received 
him  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of 
God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name;  which 
were  born — of  God."  "Whosoever  believeth  [truly] 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  is  born  of  God. — Whosoever 
is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  icorld,  and  this  is  the 
victory  that  overcometh  the  world  even  our  faith. — 
Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world  but  he  that  be- 
lieveth that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?  The  terms  im- 
port the  production  of  that  love  which  "is  the  fulfill- 
ing of  the  law,"  and  that  knowledge  of  God  which  is 
"eternal  life."  "Every  one  that  loveih  is  born  of  God 
and  knoweth  God.''''  The  terms  import  a  deliverance 
from  sin  and  the  production  of  real  holiness:  "Who- 
soever is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,  for  his  seed 
remaineth  in  him,  and  he  cannot  sinbecause  he  is  born 
of  God.''''  "We  know  that  whosoever  is  born  of  God 
sinneih  not;  but  he  that  is  born  of  God  keepeth  himself 
and.  that  luickcd  one  tovcketh  him  not.^^  "  Ye  have  puri- 
fied your  souls  i:i  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit 
unto  unfeigned  love  of  the  brethren, — being  born  again. 
— Wherefore — us  new  born  babes  desire  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word. — Ye  also  as  living  stones  are  built 
up  a  spiritual  house,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ. 
Unto  you  therefore  which  believe  he  is  precious. — 
Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a 
holy  nation."  Of  course  these  terms  import  the 
restoration  of  the  divine  image:  "If  ye  know  that  he 
is  righteous,  ye  know  that  every  one  that  doth  right- 
eousness I'n  born  of  him.^^  "Every  one  that  loveth  him 
that  begat,  loveth  him  also  that  is  begotten  of  him," 
on  acccount  of  the  resemblance.   Finally,  these  terms 


LECT.  II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  35 

import  an  unfcdUng  title  to  everlasting  glory:  "He 
saved  us  with  the  washing  o^  regeneration  and  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost, — that  being  justified  by  his 
grace  we  should  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope 
of  eternal  life."  '-Elect  according  to  the  foreknowl 
edge  of  God  the  Father, — who  h^iXhhegotten  us  again 
— to  an  inheritance, — reserved  in  heaven  for  you  who 
are  kept  hy  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  sal- 
vation.'^^'^ 

That  all  these  ideas  are  really  contained  in  the 
terms  hegotten  and  horn  of  God,  is  still  more  appar- 
ent from  the  description  given  of 

The  children  of  God.  These  are  they  who  bear 
the  image  of  God,  (a  leading  idea  suggested  by  the 
figure,) — the  image  of  God  upon  their  hearts  as  well 
as  lives.  '■'Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse 
you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for 
them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you; 
that  ye  may  he  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven,  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on 
the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the 
unjust."  "Be  ye  therefore /c//oi6'er5  of  God  as  dear 
children.^^  Of  course  the  children  of  God  are  holt/, 
(in  some  measure,)  as  he  is  holy:  "Whosoever  is 
born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin. — In  this  the  children 
of  God  are  manifest  and  the  children  of  the  devil." 
"The  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the  kingdom,  but 
the  tares,  [false  professors,]  are  the  children  of  the 
wicked  one.''''  "As  obedient  children,  not  fashioning 
yourselves  according  to  the  former  lusts; — but  as 
he  is  holy  so  be  ye  holy."  "According  as  he  hath 
chosen  us — before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that 
we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love, 
having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  ofchil- 
drenJ'^     The  children  of  God  possess  the  filial  temper, 

*  John  i.  12,  13.  and  iii,  3—9.  1  Cor.  xv.  8.  Tit.  iii.  5.  7.  James  i.  18. 
1  Pet .  i.  2—5,  22,  23.  and  ii.  1,  2,  5, 7,  9.  1  John  ii.  29.  and  iii.  3,  10. 
and  iv.  7.  and  v.  1^  4,5,  13. 


36  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.  II. 

and  are  led  hy  his  Spirit  which  witnesses  to  their  adop- 
tion: "e/^s  many  as  are  led  hy  the  Sjnrit  of  God,  they 
are  the  sons  of  God,  For  ye  have  not  received  the 
spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear,  but  ye  have  receiv- 
ed the  spirit  of  adoption  ivhereJjy  we  cry,  Abba  Father! 
The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that 
we  are  the  children  of  God.''"'  ^'Because  ye  are  sons 
God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your 
HEARTS,  crying,  Abba  Father.^^  The  children  of 
God  are  constituted  such  by  faith  in  Christ:  "As 
many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  be- 
come the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
his  name."  "Ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  hy  faith 
in  Christ  Jesus.^^  The  children  of  God  are  redeemed, 
forgiven,  accepted:  "Having  predestinated  us  unto 
the  adoption  of  children, — to  the  praise  of  the  glory 
of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made  us  accepted  in  the 
Beloved;  in  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his 
blood,  the  forgiveness  ofsins.^^  Of  course  the  chil- 
dren of  God  are  the  objects  of  his  tenderest /oue: 
"Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourg- 
eth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth.  If  ye  endure 
chastening  God  dealeth  with  you  as  with  sons.^^  The 
children  of  God  are  entitled  to  all  the  promises: — 
"The  children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  but  the  children  of  the  promise  ^re  count- 
ed for  the  seed."  "Now  we,  brethren,  as  Isaac  was, 
are  the  children  of  the  promise.'^''  "To  Abraham  and  his 
Seed  were  the  promises  made. — Ye  are  all  the  chil- 
dren of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus: — and  if  ye  be 
Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed  and  heirs  accord- 
ing to  the  promise.  Finally,  the  children  of  God 
will  inherit  eternal  glory,  and  will  bear  this  name 
ivhen  cdl  visible  churches  are  7io  more:  "If  children 
then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ.'''^ 
"If  a  son  then  an  heir  of  God  through  Christ."  "In 
the  resurrection — they  are  equal  unto  the  angels 
and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of 


LECT.  II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  37 

the  resurrection."  "The  creature  itself  also  shall 
be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into 
the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.^^  Indeed 
as  Christians  will  then  enter  into  the  full  possession 
of  their  inheritance,  this  investiture,  which  is  regard- 
ed as  the  consummation  oiWie'ir  sons  hip,  is  called  by 
way  of  eminence  their  adoption:  "We  ourselves 
groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to 
wit,  the  redemption  of  our  hody^^ 

Such  is   the  account  given    us  of  the   children   of 
God;  and  a  similar  description  is  given  of 

The  seed  of  Christ.  This  appellation  distinguish- 
es a  class  of  men  who  were  promised  to  Christ  as  the 
fruit  of  "the  travail  of  his  soul,"  and  are  called  "the 
holy  seed,"  a  seed  that  ^^serve  him,"  "the  seed  which  the 
Lord  hath  blessed,^''  an  ^^elect^^  seed  born  to  possess  the 
inheritance,  a  seed  which  shall  be  established  forever, 
and  though  chastened  never  forsaken  on  account  of 
their  sins.  Beinoj  the  seed  of  him  in  whom  centered 
all  the  promises  made  to  Abraham,  they  inherit  a 
sure  title  to  all  covenant  blessings:  "It  is  of  faith  that 
it  might  be  by  grace,  to  the  end  the  promise  might  be 
sure  to  all  the  seed.^^  "They  are  not  all  Israel  which 
are  of  Israel;  [not  all  seed  v/ho  belong  to  the 
VISIBLE  church;] — that  is,  they  which  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of  God 
hut  the  children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for  the 
seed.^^f 

After  the  scriptures  have  spoken  in  this  sort,  is  it 
not  worse  than  trifling  to  say  that  neiv  creature,  begot- 
ten of  God,  new-born,  children  of  God,  seed  of  Christ, 
express  nothing  more  than  a  relation  to  the  visible 
Church^  That  these  terms,  like  all  others  descrip- 
tive of  holy  character,  are  applied  to  \isih\e  churches, 

*  Mat.  V.  9,  44.  45.  and  xili.  38.  Luke  vl.  35,36.  and  xx.  33,  36,  John 
i.  12.  Rom.  viii.  14—17, 21,  23.  and  ix.  8.  Gal.  iii.  7—29.  and  iv.  5,  7, 28. 
Eph.  i.  4—7.  and  v.  1.     Heb.  xii.  6,  7.     1  Pet.  i.  14,  15.      1  John  iii.  9,  10. 

t  Ps.  xxii.30.  and  Ixxxix.  4,  29—37.  Isai.  vi.  13.  and  liii.  10,  11.  and 
Ixv.  9.    Rom.  iv.  16.  and  ix.  6,  8.    Gal,  iii,  16,  29. 

*4 


38  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II. 

is  not  denied;  but  it  is  on  the  presumption  that  they 
are  ivhat  they  profess  to  he.  Is  it  not  the  strangest 
fancy  that  ever  was  conceived,  that  because  such 
terms  are  applied  to  visible  churches,  they  express 
no  more  than  an  outivard  character  and  condition? 
Because  you  call  members  of  the  visible  Church 
Christians,  is  it  to  be  inferred  that  men  are  7'eal 
Christians  without  a  holy  hearth 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  new  creation  or  new 
birth  implies  the  production  of  real  holiness  of  heart 
or  spiritual  life.  If  then  the  terms  have  any  signif- 
icancy,  they  import  the  beginning  of  that  life.  If 
so  there  v.as  no  holiness  before.  And  this  conclu- 
sion, drawn  from  the  plain  meaning  of  the  terms,  is 
confirmed  by  the  tenour  of  the  numerous  texts 
which  have  been  cited. 

Argument  III.  The  Scriptures  in  a  variety  of 
forms  plainly  assert  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity. 

(1.)  The  manner  in  which  they  speak  of  man, 
the  S071S  of  men,  and  the  ivorJd,  is  as  if  these  terms 
stood  for  nothing  but  sinners, — as  if  nothing  but  sin 
was  inherent  in  human  nature.  "The  way  of  man 
is  froward  and  strange."  "How  much  more  abom- 
inable and  filthy  is  man  which  drinketh  iniquity  like 
water."  "Do  ye  judge  uprightly,  O  ye  sons  ofme7i9- 
yea  in  heart  you  work  wickedness;  you  weigh  the 
violence  of  your  hands  in  the  earth."  "My  soul  is 
among  lions,  and  I  lie  even  among  them  that  are  set 
on  fire,  even  the  sons  of  men,  whose  teeth  are 
spears  and  arrows  and  their  tongue  a  sharp  sword." 
A  direct  opposition  is  every  where  set  up  between 
God  and  man,  God  and  the  ivorld,  Christ  and  the 
tvorld:  "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan;  for  thou 
savourest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God  but  the 
things  that  be  of  ??iaw."  "We  have  received,  not 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  Spirit  which  is  of 
God.''^     "We  know  that  we  are  of  God  and  the  whole 


LECT.  II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  39 

world  lieth  in  wickedness. ^^  "I  have  given  them  thy 
word,  and  the  world  hath  hated  them,  because  they 
are  not  of  the  world  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  worlds 
*'If  the  world  hate  you  ye  know  that  it  hated  me 
before  it  hated  you.  If  ye  were  of  the  world  the 
world  would  love  his  own;  but  because  you  are  not 
of  the  woi'ld^  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world, 
therefore  the  ivorld  hateth  you."  Hence  the  epithets 
worldly  and  earthly  are  used  to  express  qualities  alto- 
gether wicked:  "Ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts." 
"This  wisdom  descendeth  not  from  above,  but  is 
earthly,  natural,  devilish."* 

(2.)  The  79ro??ii5e5  of  the  Gospel  are  made  to  the 
least  degree  of  holiness,  and  the  threatenings  of  death 
are  denounced  against  nothing  less  than  an  utter 
tvant  of  holiness. 

Such  is  the  tenour  of  the  promises.  "Whosoever 
shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these  little  ones  a 
cup  of  cold  water  oidy  in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  ver- 
ily I  say  unto  you  he  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  re- 
ward." "All  things  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  God,''"'  in  the  least  degree.  "He  that  loveth 
me  [at  a//,]  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  T  will 
love  him."  ^'■Repent  and  be  baptised  every  one  of 
you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  [no  particular  degree  of  repent^ice  is  speci- 
fied,] and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  "He  that  believeth,  [ever  so  feebly,']  shall 
be  saved." 

Such  also  is  the  tenor  of  the  threatenings.  "Fol- 
low— holiness,  luithout  which,  [that  is,  if  it  is  entirely 
wanting,]  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  "If  any  man 
love  NOT  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  anathema 
maranatha."     "Except  ye  rejjent,   [in  some  degj-ee,'] 

*  Job  XV.  16.  Ps.  Ivii.  4.  and  Iviii.  1,  2.  Prov.  xxi.  8.  Markvili.33. 
John  XV.  18,  19.  and  xvii.  14, 16.  1  Cor.  ii.  12.  Tit.  ii.  12.  James  iii.  15. 
1  John  V.  19. 


40  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II. 

ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."     "He  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned."* 

None  therefore  but  those  who  are  freed  from  the 
threatenings  of  death  and  have  a  title  to  the  prom- 
ises of  life,  possess  a  particle  of  holiness. 

Before  I  proceed  further  allow  me  to  remind  you 
of  one  fact  with  which  you  cannot  be  unacquainted. 
The  Scriptures  divide  mankind  into  two  classes; 
the  good  and  the  bad,  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
natural  men  and  spiritual  men,  believers  and  unbe- 
lievers, those  who  are  in  Christ  and  those  who  are 
out,  the  justified  and  the  condemned,  the  heirs  of 
heaven  and  the  heirs  of  hell.  There  is  not  a  third 
class.     With  this  fact  before  me  I  remark, 

(3.)  A  number  of  the  most  simple  and  essential 
properties  of  a  holy  nature  are  particularly  specifi- 
ed, and  are  declared  not  to  belong  to  the  class  de- 
nominated wicked.  This  class  possess  no  love  to 
God  or  Christ.  The  proof  of  this  I  shall  reserve 
for  the  next  lecture.     This  class  have  no  desire  after 

*Mat.  X.42.  Mark  xvi.  16.  Luke  xiii.  3.  John  xiv.  21.  Acts  ii.38. 
Rom.  viii.  28.  1  Cor.  xvi.  22.  Heb.  xii.  14.  If  it  be  said  that  the  terms 
which  express  the  conditions  of  these  promises  and  denunciations  are  all 
descriptive  of  general  character,  (like  the  texts  referred  to  in  the  third  lec- 
ture, p.  74 — 70,)  the  author  concedes  that  they  may  be  so  understood  with- 
out giving  a  wrong  view  of  the  promises  and  threateningsj  because  men 
who  love,  repent,  or  believe,  in  the  least  degree,  do  the  same  habitually.. 
But  while  some  passages  almost  expressly  speak  of  general  character  and 
are  evidendy  confined  to  that  view,  (as  those  cited  in  the  third  lecture,) 
manv  of  the  promises  and  threatenings  are  so  constructed  as  plainly  to  im- 
ply that  those  who  are  not  entitled  to  the  one  but  are  exposed  to  the  other 
are  entircl}'  destitute  of  holiness.  Indeed  by  a  union  of  indejiniieness, 
(which  by  omitting  the  notice  of  degrees  suggests  the  idea  of  general  char- 
acter.) with  explicitness,  (by  which  the  utter  destitution  of  the  wicked  is 
sufficiently  expressed,)  they  seem  to  have  been  constructed  on  purpose  to 
hold  out  this  precise  proposition,  that  they  who  are  not  holy  in  their  general 
character  possessed  no  lioliiiess  at  all.  The  general  and  sweeping  tenor, 
for  instance,  of  the  promises  and  threatenings  above  quoted,  in  which  no 
dcTces  of  holiness  are  marked,  but  a  distinct  line  of  separation  is  drawn 
between  those  who  love  and  those  who  love  "not," — those  who  repent  and 
those  who  repent  "7iot," — those  who  believe  and  those  who  believe  "not," 
those  who  possess  and  those  who  are  "without  holiness,"  evidently  im- 
plies that  they  whose  general  character  is  not  marked  with  love,  repentance, 
and  faith,  are  utterly  destitute  of  these  and  every  other  holy  principle. — 
And  if  this  Is  allowed  to  be  their  language,  they  only  assert  what  the  great 
body  of  Scripture  abundantly  confirms. 


LECT.    II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  41 

God:  "The  wicked — say  unto  God,  depart  from  us, 
for  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways."  They 
have  no  desire  after  Christ:  he  is  to  them  "as  a  root 
out  of  a  dry  ground;  he  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness, 
and  when  [they] — see  him  there  is  no  beauty  that 
[they]  should  desire  him."  They  do  not  seek  God: 
"The  wicked,  through  the  pride  of  his  countenance, 
will  not  seek  after  God.^^  If  there  should  be  any 
doubt  who  are  meant  by  the  wicked  that  do  not 
seek  God,  the  Psalmist  will  resolve  it  at  once: — 
"The  Lord  looked  down  from  heaven  upon  the  chil- 
dren of  men  to  see  if  there  were  any  that  did — seek 
God.  They  are  all  gone  aside;"  "there  is  none  that 
seeketh  after  God^  This  class  do  not  fear  God, 
though  "the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wis- 
dom:^^  "The  transgression  of  the  wicked  saith  within 
my  heart,  that  there  is  no  fear  of  God  before  their 
eyes."  And  to  show  infallibly  that  by  the  wicked,  in 
this  and  other  similar  passages,  are  meant  the  whole 
race  of  natural  men,  the  apostle  in  the  Sd  chapter 
of  Romans  quotes  these  very  words,  and  other  things 
alleged  against  the  wicked  in  the  Old  Testament,  as 
asserted  of  all  natural  men,  and  intended  to  prove 
that  "both  Jews  and  Gentiles — are  all  under  sin," 
(that  "every  mouth  may  be  stopped  and  all  the 
world  may  become  guilty  before  God,")  and  that 
"by  the  deeds  of  the  law — no  flesh  [can]  be  justifi- 
ed." This  class  do  not  know  God:  "O  righteous 
Father,  the  world  hath  not  knoivn  thee.^^  "These 
things  will  they,  [the  world,]  do  unto  you  for  my 
name's  sake  because  they  know  not  him  that  sent  we." 
This  class  are  wholly  unacquainted  with  the  way  of 
life:  "The  way  of  peace  have  they  not  known:" 
Hence  in  allusion  to  the  conversion  of  sinners  it  is 
said,  "I  will  bring  the  blind  by  a  way  that  they  kneiv 
not;  I  will  lead  them  in  paths  that  they  have  not 
known."  This  class  have  no  discernment  or  under- 
standing or  right  knowledge  of  divine  things:     "We 


42  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II, 


i 


speak — not  the   wisdom   of    this  worlds — but — the  ; 
wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery, — which  none  of  the 
princes  of  this  world  knew; — as  it  is  written,    Eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  i 
into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  pre- 
pared for  them  that  love  him;    but  God  hath  revealed  "' 
them  unto   us  by  his  Spirit. — For  what  man  knoweth 
the  things  of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  in  j 
him?     Even  so  the   things  of  God  knoweth  no  man  j 
but  the  Spirit  of  God. — But  the  natural  man  receiv-  ] 
eth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  i 
foolishness  unto  him;  neither  can   he  know  them  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned.''''     "My  people  is    i 
foolish,   they   have   not  known  me;  they   are   sottish    ' 
children,  they  have  none  understanding.''''    "The  Lord 
looked  down  from  heaven  upon  the  children  of  men 
to  see  if  there  were  any  that  did  understand.     They 
are  all  gone  aside."     "There  is  none  that  under  stand- 
eth.''''     Hence   all   spiritual   understanding   is  repre- 
sented as  coming   from  God:     "The  Son   of  God  is 
come  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding  that  we  may 
know  him  that  is  true."     "We — do  not  cease  to  pray 
for  you — that  ye  might  be  filled  with   the  knowledge 
of  his  ivill  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding.'''' 
This  class   have   none  of  that  love  to  their  neighbour 
which  is  required  in   the  divine  law:     "Beloved,  let 
us  love  one  another,  for  love  is  of  God,  and  everyone 
that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God."     This 
class  have   no  true  haired  of  sin:     "The /ear  of  the 
Lord  is  to  hate  evil;"   but  they  have  ^^no  fear  of  God 
before  their  eyes."     However  the   body  of  sin  may 
change  its  form   and  some  of  its  members  be  re- 
trenched, they  are  in  no  degree  delivered  from  its  do^   i 
minion:     ''To  depart  from  evil  is  understanding."^ 

*  Job  xvii.  4  and  xxi.  7,  14.  xxvWi.  28.  Ps.  x.  4  and  xiv.  2,  3.  and  xxxvi. 
1.  and  cxi.  10.  Prov.  i.  7.  and  viii.  13.  and  ix.  10.  Isai.  xlii.  16.  and  liii.  2. 
Jer.  iv.  22.  John  xv.  21.  and  xvii.  25.  Rom.  iii.  9—20.  1  Cor.  ii.  6— \4 
Col.  i.  9.    1  John  iv.  7.  and  v.  20. 


LECT.    II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  43 


(4.)  All  natural  men  are  the  enemies  of  God  and 
is  Son.  This  decisive  proof  of  total  depravity  will 
e  reserved  for  the  following  lecture. 
i  (5.)  That  natural  men  possess  no  holy  principle 
[is  evident  from  this,  that  all  their  actions,  so  far  as 
jthey  partake  of  a  moral  nature,  are  wicked.  Their 
li  ways  are  always  grievous."  They  "have  only  done 
bvil — from  their  youth."  They  "have  only  provoked 
ime  to  anger  with  the  work  of  their  hands."  The 
[very  ''•plowing  of  the  wicked  is  sin."  Even  their 
rsacrifice — is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord."  "So 
then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh,  [in  their  natural  state^'\ 
^annot  please  God:^^  or  what  amounts  to  the  same 
[thing,  '^without faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him."* 
]  (6.)  The  doctrine  is  supported  by  direct  and  ^05- 
\itive  declarations.  "God  saw  that  the  wickedness  of 
man  was  great  in  the  earth  and  that  every  imagina- 
ition  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil  con- 
Itinually.^^  "The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  full  of 
bvil,  and  madness  is  in  their  heart  while  they  live,  and 
jafter  that  they  go  to  the  dead."  "Because  sentence 
lagainst  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily,  there- 
jfore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fidly  set  in  them  to 
\do  eyi/."  "The  heart  is  deceitjul  above  all  things  and 
'desperately  luicked;  who  can  know  itT^  MHiose 
jheart.^  The  heart, — in  the  most  universal  form. — 
i"The  whole  head  is  sick  and  the  whole  heart  faint: 
[from  the  sole  of  the  foot  even  unto  the  head,  there  is  no 
soundness  in  it,  but  wounds  and  bruises  and  putrify- 
ing  sores."  "Unto  them  that  are  defiled  and  unbe- 
lieving is  nothing  pure,  but  even  their  mind  and  con- 
science is  defiled; — being  abominable  and  disobedi- 
ent and  unto  every  good  work  reprobate.''^  "That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh,  [by  natural  generation,] 
is  flesh," — is  nothing  hut  flesh;    because  all    that  is 

*Ps.  X.  4.    Prov.  XV.  8.  and  xxi.  4.  Jer.  xxxii.  30.     Rom.  viii.  8.  Heb. 
I  xi.  6. 


44  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II. 

spirit,  or  that  stands  in  opposition  to  flesh,  is  pro- 
duced by  a  second  birth:  "Tlmt  which  is  born  of 
the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit 
is  spirit."  By  flesh  is  unquestionably  meant  the  old 
nature  with  which  we  were  born.  What  then  is  the 
character  of  the  fleshy  Let  an  apostle  answer:  "/ 
know  that  in  me,  that  is  in  my  flesh,  dwelleth  no  good 
THING."  Will  you  hear  him  further?  "The  flesh 
lusteth  against  the  spirit  and  the  spirit  against  the 
flesh,  and  these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the  other. — 
Now  the  works  of  the  flesh  are — these:  adultery, 
fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry, 
witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife, 
seditions,  heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness, 
revellings,  and  such  like. — But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit 
is  love,  joy,  peace. — And  they  that  are  Christ's  have 
crucified  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts."  Hear 
him  yet  further:  "They  that  are  after  the  flesh  do 
mind  the  things  of  the  flesh,  but  they  that  are  after 
the  Spirit,  the  things  of  the  Spirit;  for  to  be  carnally 
[fleshly]  minded  is  death,  but  to  be  spiritually  mind- 
ed is  life  and  peace;  because  the  carnal  [fleshly] 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God  neither  indeed  can  be.  So  then 
they  that  arc  in  the  flesh,  [in  their  natural  state,] 
cannot  please  God.  But  ye  are  not  in  the  flesh  but 
in  the  Spirit,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell  in 
youy 

To  this  mass  of  proof  may  be  added,  what  perhaps 
is  the  most  decisive  of  all,  that  mankind  by  nature 
are  "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins:"  You  being  dead 
in  your  sins  and  the  uncircumcision  of  your  flesh, 
hath  he  quickened."  "You  hath  he  quickened  who 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  If  you  say  these 
were  heathen,  let  us  then  go  to  the  Jews:  "God 
who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith 
he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath 
quickened  us."     "Jesus  said  unto  him,  Follow  me 


JLECT.    II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  45 

and  let  the  dead  bury  their  dead."  "The  hour  is 
coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the 
voice  of  the  Son  of  God  and  they  that  hear  shall 
live."  If  you  say  these  were  Jews,  let  us  go  then 
vv^ithin  the  pale  of  the  Christian  Church:  "Honour 
widows  that  are  widows  indeed; — but  she  that  liveth 
in  pleasure  is  dead  while  she  liveth."  "These  are 
spots  in  your  feasts  of  charity; — trees  whose  fruit 
withereth, — twice  dead, -plucked  up  by  the  roots." 
"I  know  thy  works,  tfiat  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou 
livest  and  art  dead.''^^ 

The  dismal  picture  which  the  apostle  draws  in  the 
3d  chapter  of  Romans,  by  composing  into  one  form 
the  different  features  of  the  ''wicked''  which  had 
been  traced  in  the  Old  Testament;  and  his  declara- 
tion that  the  features  were  originally  intended  for 
the  ivkole  human  family,  authorizing  thus  the  univer- 
sal application  of  the  term  wicked  as  it  stands  con- 
nected with  these  delineations;  are  sufficient  in 
themselves  to  settle  this  question.  Pray  read  that 
description,  (and  add  to  it  the  dreadful  account  of 
the  whole  heathen  world  in  the  first  chapter;)  and 
after  being  thus  taught  to  apply  to  all  natural  men 
the  allegations  of  the  Old  Testament  against  'Hhe 
wicked,""  read  the  descriptions  of  the  wicked  contain- 
ed in  the  21st  chapter  of  Job,  the  lOth,  14th,  36th, 
50th  and  73d  Psalms,  and  to  mention  no  more,  the 
59th  chapter  of  Isaiah. 

Jlrgument  IV.  The  representations  in  the  Psalms 
and  chapters  above  referred  to  are  abundantly  con- 
firmed by  the  history  of  the  world. 

But  a  few  ages  had  elapsed  after  the  fall  of  man 
before  "the  earth  was  filled  with  violence,"  and  the 
whole  world,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  family, 

*^Gen.  vi.  5.  Eccl.  viii.  11,  and  ix.  3.  Isai.  i.  5,  6.  Jer,  xvil.  9.  Mat.  viii. 
22.  John  iii.6.  and  v.  25.  Rom.  vii.  18.  and  viii.  5—9.  Gal.  v.  17—24. 
Epli.ii.  1,4,5.  Col.  ii.  13.  ITim.  V.  3.  6.  Tit.  i.  15,  16,  IPet.  iv.6. 
Judel2.    Rev.iii.  1. 


46  TOTAL   DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II* 

must  be  swept  away  with  a  flood.     As  soon  as  men 
began  to  multiply  again  on  the  earth,  the  whole  race, 
except  one  family  preserved  by  a  succession  of  mir- 
acles, apostatized  to  idols.     "Professing  themselves 
to  be  wise  they  became  fools,  and  changed  the  glory 
of  the  incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to 
corruptible  man,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts, 
nnd  creeping  things. — For  this  cause  God  gave  them 
up  unto  vile   affections,"  to  wallow  in  the   most  un- 
natural and  brutal   lusts.      "As  they    did  not  like  to 
retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to 
a  reprobate  mind; — being  filled  with  aZ/ unrighteous- 
ness, fornication,   wickedness,    covetousness,    mali- 
ciousness; full  of  envy,   murder,  debate,  deceit,  ma- 
lignity; wiiisperers,   backbiters,   haters  of  God,  des- 
piteful, proud,  boasters,  inventers  of  evil  things,  dis- 
obedient to   parents,   without  understanding,  cove- 
nant-breakers  without  natural  affection,  implacable, 
unmerciful,"  "murderers  of  fathers,  and  murderers  of 
mothers."^     0»ly  collect  the  crimes  committed  in 
the  Assyrian  and   Persian  courts,  including  the  fre- 
quent murder  of  the  nearest  relations  to  open  a  way 
to  the  throne,  and  without  looking  further  this  whole 
catalogue  of  charges  stands  supported.    Sodom  was 
but  a  specimen  of  the  heathen  world. 

And  if  you  turn  from  this  wilderness  to  the  vine- 
yard on  which  all  the  culture  of  heaven  was  bestow- 
ed, you  see  little  else  than  the  grapes  of  Sodom  and 
clusters  of  Gomorrah. f  Under  the  glories  of  the 
burning  mount,  while  the  voice  of  God  was  still 
sounding  in  their  ears,  they  constructed  a  molten 
calf  and  stupidly  cried,  "These  be  thy  gods,  O 
Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt. "J  Their  unbelief  and  rebellion  never  ceas- 
ed.    From  generation  to  generation  their  lust  after 

*Rom.i.  22.32.    1  Tim.  i.  9, 10.        f  Dcut.  xxxii.  32;  33.    Isai.  v.  1— 7. 
i^Exod.  xxxii.  1 — 6. 


LECT.    II.]  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  47 

other  gods  could  scarcely  be  restrained  by  all  the 
miracles  wrought  before  their  eyes, — by  all  the  fer- 
vid expostulations  of  anxious  propliets.  Those 
prophets  they  slew,  and  at  length  filled  up  the  meas- 
ure of  their  iniquity  by  the  murder  of  the  Son 
of  God. 

And  what  has  the  Christian  world  exhibited?  Must 
I  retrace  that  apostacy  which  gave  one  half  of  the 
Church  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens  and  Turks? 
Must  I  measure  over  those  scenes  of  [)ride  and  pol- 
lution which  laid  the  other  half  at  the  feet  of  the 
man  of  sin?  Must  I  revisit  the  fa<rgots  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, and  wade  through  the  seas  of  blood  which  have 
been  shed  by  hands  bearing  the  cross?  Look  where 
you  will  the  deep  depravity  of  man  on  every  side 
appears.  The  history  of  the  world  is  a  history  of 
crimes.  The  earth  has  been  from  the  beginning  a 
great  Aceldama,  a  shambles  of  blood.  And  lest  it 
should  be  thought  that  Christianity  and  science  and 
modern  refinement  have  tamed  the  natural  heart, 
the  most  polishpd  nation  on  earth,  in  the  centre  of  the 
Christian  world,  has  been  selected  to  take  the  lead 
in  that  scene  of  atheism  and  violence  reserved  for 
the  latter  day, — reserved  to  make  a  full  developement 
of  the  human  character,  that  the  millennium  might 
be  introduced  without  a  remaining  doubt  on  earth 
of  the  total  depravity  of  man. 

This  horrid  scene,  in  the  centre  of  the  Christian 
Church,  was  foretold  by  astonished  prophets.  "This 
know, — that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall 
come.  For  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  ownselves, 
covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient 
to  parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  without  natural  affec- 
tion, truce  breakers,  false  accusers,  incontinent, 
fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors,  heady, 
high-minded,  lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers 
of  God,  having  the  form  of  godliness  but  denying 
the  power  thereof:  from  such  turn    away."     "And 


48  TOTAL    DEPRAVITY.  [lECT.    II. 

there  fell  upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of  heaven,  ev- 
ery stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent;  and  men  blas- 
phemed God  because  of  the  plague  of  the  hail,  for 
the  plague  thereof  was  exceeding  great."* 

Such  is  the  history  of  man, — of  man  under  every 
form  of  society,  pagan,  Jewish,  and  Christian.  And 
it  furnishes  a  fair  illustration  of  what  selfishness  will 
do  in  spite  of  all  the  affections  of  nature,  when  divine. 
restraints  are  taken  otf  and  sufficient  temptations  oc- 
cur. It  may  then  be  regarded  as  the  history  o^  every 
man  left  to  himself.  For  "as  in  water  face  answereth 
to  face,  so  the  heart  of  man  to  man."  The  conduct 
of  those  wretches  who  are  recorded  as  prodigies  of 
iniquity,  is  only  an  exemplification  of  selfishness 
and  a  specimen  of  what  every  man  would  do  if  left 
of  God.  AH  doubt  on  this  subject  will  be  removed 
as  soon  as  the  wicked  enter  the  eternal  world  and 
begin  to  exercise  the  rage  of  the  damned.  Hence 
in  the  descriptions  of  man  which  are  drawn  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  crimes,  that  have  not  been  acted  out  by 
all,  but  by  a  part  as  a  sample  of  the  rest,  are  set 
down  among  the  characteristics  of  the  whole  human 
family. f 

But  men  will  be  slow  to  believe  all  this,  because 
they  are  ignorant  of  themselves.  No  man  knows 
what  is  in  his  heart  further  than  he  is  tried;  because 
no  man  knows  what  selfishness,  restrained  only  by 
nature,  is  capable  of  doing.  Hazael  could  say,  "Is 
thy  servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this  great 
thing?"  and  yet  he  did  it. J  The  Jews  who  crucified 
the  Saviour  of  the  world,  thought  that  if  they  had 
lived  in  the  days  of  their  fathers  they  should  not  have 
slain  the  prophets. §  And  if  any  of  you  are  dream- 
ing that,  left  to  yourselves,  you  should  not  go  the 
length  of  those  whose  history  you  have  reviewed,  let 
that  dream  end  at  this  spot, — "The  heart  is  deceit- 
ful above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked;  ivho  can 
know  it  V 

*  2  Tim.  iii.  1—9.    Rev.  xvi.  21.  \  Rom.  iii.  9—20. 

%  2  Kin.  viii,  13.        %  Mat.  xxiii.  30. 


IL.ECTURE    III. 
NATURAL  AFFECTIONS  NOT  HOLINESS. 

HEBREWS  xii,  14. 

FOLLOW   PEACE    WITH   ALL   MEN,  AND     HOLINESS,    WITHOUT    WHICH 
NO   MAN    SHALL   SEE   THE   LORD. 

Salvation  depends  very  much  on  possessing  a 
correct  view  of  our  native  ruin  and  need  of  a  Sav- 
iour. For  want  of  this  many  disdainfully  reject  the 
offers  of  grace  and  undertake  to  recommend  them- 
selves to  God  in  a  way  more  gratifying  to  human 
pride.  None  will  apply  to  the  physician  till  they 
feel  that  they  are  sick. 

The  most  holy  and  devout  portion  of  the  Christian 
Church  have  always  held,  with  the  fathers  of  New- 
England,  that  mankind  by  nature  are  totally  de- 
praved; by  which  they  have  meant,  not  that  they  are 
as  bad  as  they  can  be, — not  that  they  are  all  equally 
wicked, — not  that  the/o?'m  of  their  actions  is  always 
wrong; — not  that  they  are  wholly  destitute  of  love 
to  mew, — of  all  moral  sense, — of  all  regard  for  the 
natural  fitness  there  is  in  virtue, — of  all  disgust  at 
the  natural  unfitness  there  is  in  vice;  but  merely 
this,  that  they  are  utterly  destitute  of  holiness.  And 
this  our  text  evidently  implies.  It  virtually  declares 
that  none  shall  be  debarred  from  seeing  the  Lord 
but  they  who  are  "without  holiness;"  which  is  to  say, 

*5 


50  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT.    III. 

that  all  who  are  not  entitled  to  heaven  are  destitute 
of  that  principle, — that  all  who  in  Scripture  are  call- 
ed sinners  in  distinction  from  saints,  children  of 
wrath  in  distinction  from  children  of  God,  natural 
men  in  distinction  from  spiritual  men,  the  world  in 
distinction  from  the  Church,  are  "without  holiness." 

There  are  however  in  natural  men  certain  sem- 
blances of  holiness  which  have  been  often  alleged 
in  opposition  to  this  doctrine.  Natural  men  are  sus- 
ceptible of  gratitude  and  patriotism;  of  the  domes- 
tic affections,  such  as  subsist  between  parents  and 
children,  husbands  and  wives,  brothers  and  sisters; 
of  humanity,  including  both  compassion  and  general 
good  wishes  for  the  happiness  of  others;  of  a  sweet 
disposition,  enlarging  their  humanity,  and  producing 
gentleness,  patience,  forgiveness,  kindness,  and  ben- 
eficence. They  are  susceptible  of  a  sense  of  honor, 
revolting  from  meanness  and  pollution;  of  taste,  that 
delights  in  beautiful  proportions  in  all  visible  objects 
and  relations;  of  conscience,  or  the  moral  sense, 
which  approves  of  justice  and  virtue  and  disapproves 
of  vice,  and  when  sufficiently  enlightened  justifies 
the  whole  law  of  God  and  religion  generally  and 
good  men,  and  condemns  the  opposite  of  all  these. 
Under  the  influence  of  these  principles,  fortified  by 
education  and  habit,  aided  by  hopes  and  fears,  by 
respect  for  human  opinions  and  laws,  by  regard 
for  good  order,  (especially  as  being  necessary  for 
their  own  security,)  by  the  general  good  nature 
which  prosperity  imparts  even  to  selfish  minds,  and 
by  numberless  associations  of  ideas,  multitudes  of 
natural  men  lead  amiable  and  moral  lives.  But  after 
all  they  are  utterly  destitute  of  that  "holiness  with- 
out which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  To  put  this 
matter  beyond  a  doubt  let  us, 

T.     Inquire  what  holiness  is. 

II.  Compare  the  world  with  this  standard. 

III.  By  this  standard  test  the  natural  principles 
which  have  been  mentioned. 


LECT.    III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  51 

I.  What  is  holiness?  Avoiding  all  points  liable 
to  dispute,  I  will  give  such  an  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion as  I  think  no  man  will  be  disposed  to  contradict. 
I  will  put  the  answer  in  two  forms,  and  you  may  take 
your  choice.  Holiness  consists  in  conformity  to  the 
moral  character  of  God.  The  other  answer  is,  Holi- 
ness consists  in  obedience  to  his  commands.  I  will 
illustrate  the  principle  in  both  forms. 

(1.)  Holiness  consists  in  conformity  to  the  moral 
character  of  God.  If  a  doubt  could  rest  on  this 
point  the  whole  Bible  would  join  to  remove  it.  In 
the  image  of  God  man  was  originally  made,  and  that 
image  is  reinstampt  on  his  soul  in  sanctification. — 
"We  all  with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  to  glory."  tloliness  in  creatures  is  the 
same  in  kind  as  holiness  in  God:  "Re  ye  holy  fori 
am  holy."  Hence  Christians  are  said  to  be  "partak- 
ers of  his  holiness"  and  "partakers  of  the  divine  na- 
ture."^ 

Holiness  in  creatures  consists  then  in  loving  the 
same  things  that  God  loves,  in  hating  the  same 
things  that  he  hates,  in  desiring  the  same  things 
that  he  desires,  in  having  the  same  supreme  end,  in 
rejoicing  in  the  same  things  in  which  he  rejoices;  in 
short,  in  possessing  his  temper  and  acting  it  out  in 
corresponding  conduct.  Let  us  expand  these  ideas. 
Holiness  consists 

Li  loving  the  same  things  that  God  loves;  in  loving 
therefore  being  in  general;  (such  an  affection  exists 
in  God,  for  "God  is  love;")  in  loving  all  his  perfec- 
tions^ in  which  he  himself  delights;  in  loving  the  pre- 
cepts and  penalties  of  that /fu^'  which  is  a  transcript 
of  his  nature;  in  loving  his  provideritial  government, 
which  he  approves;  in  delighting  in  his  will,  which  is 
necessarily  agreeable  to  himself;  in  loving  his  Son, 
his  beloved  Son  in  whom  he  is  well  pleased;  in  lov- 

*  Gen.  i.  26,  27.    2  Cor.  iii.  18.    Heb.  xii.  10.      1  Pet.  i.  16.     2  Pet.  i.  4. 


52  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT.  III. 

ing  the  whole  plan  of  salvation,  which  he  regards 
with  infinite  affection;  in  loving  his  word,  with  all  its 
doctrines,  which  are  dear  to  him;  in  loving  his 
Church  and  all  good  men,  whom  he  has  graven  upon 
his  heart. 

In  hating  the  same  things  that  God  hates;  in  hating 
sin  therefore,  and  the  characters  of  wielded  men,  and 
the  manners  of  an  ungodly  vjorld. 
^  In  desiring  the  same  things  that  God  desires:  in  de- 
siring therefore  his  glory,  the  enlargement  and  con- 
summation of  his  Church,  the  universal  reign  of 
holiness,  the  universal  belief  of  God- exalting  and 
soul-debasing  truths,  and  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  de- 
signs of  infinite  love. 

In  having  the  same  supreme  end  that  God  has;  in 
making  his  glory  therefore  the  grand  object  of  pur- 
suit. 

In  rejoicing  in  the  same  things  in  which  God  rejoices; 
in  rejoicing  therefore  in  his  being,  government,  and 
glory,  in  the  honour  put  upon  his  law,  in  the  certain- 
ty that  all  h\s  jmrposes  will  be  accomplished,  in  the 
everlasting  glory  of  his  Church  and  the  eternal  de- 
struction of  his  enemies. 

In  acting  out  this  temper  in  corresponding  conduct, — 
in  precisely  that  conduct  toward  God,  his  Son,  his 
institutions,  and  our  fellow  men,  which  his  word 
requires. 

Must  not  this,  and  nothing  short  of  this,  be  the 
holiness  that  will  fit  us  to  enjoy  and  commune  with 
God  forever?  Shall  I  now  turn  to  the  other  answer.'^ 
But  as  the  law  of  God  is  a  transcript  of  his  nature, 
this  answer  must  amount  to  the  same  thing. 

(2.)  Holiness  consists  in  obeying  Godh  com- 
mands. Can  any  man  doubt  this?  If  the  law  of  the 
universal  king  is  not  the  universal  standard  of  right; 
ifhe  has  left  anything  unforbidden  which  will  in- 
jure the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom;  if  he  has  toler- 
ated by  silence  any  principle  or  act  hostile  to  the  in- 


LECT.    III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  53 

terests  of  the  universe;  what  will  you  say  of  his  gov- 
ernment? It  were  blasphemy  to  suppose  it.  If  the 
definition  of  sin  is,  that  it  is  "Me  transgression  of  the 
law,^^"^  the  definition  of  holiness  must  be,  that  it  is 
obedience  to  the  law. 

But  the  law  of  God,  if  I  rnay  be  allowed  the  ex- 
pression, has  both  a  body  and  a  soul.  It  is  not  con- 
fined like  human  laws  to  external  things.  The  law  of 
the  moral  Governor  must  strike  chiefly,  and  in  a 
sense  entirely,  at  the  heart,  the  real  seat  of  all  moral 
good  and  evi!.  Now  if  we  could  find  a  single  prin- 
ciple of  the  heart  which  in  itself  and  its  proper  fruits 
comprehends  complete  obedience  to  the  law,  we 
should  find  holiness  in  its  most  simple  and  elemen- 
tary form.  Well  that  principle  is  found;  and  it  is 
such  a  one  as  will  perfectly  assimilate  us  to  the  moral 
character  of  God.  It  is  love, — and  "Got/ is  love." 
"Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."-)-  But  ivhat  love? 
Let  the  prophet  of  the  world,  the  lawgiver  himself, 
reply;  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  mind. 
This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment.  And  the 
second  is  like  unto  it,  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighhour 
as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the 
law  and  the  prophets.''^  "All  the  law,  [in  respect  to 
man,']  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this,  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  "He  that  loveth 
another  hath  fulfilled  the  law. "J  And  as  evangel- 
ical faith,  the  sum  of  Gospel  duties,  "worketh  by 
Zoye,"§  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Gospel  as  well  as 
the  law.  and  comprehends  all  the  holiness  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New.  This  is  that  charity  which 
so  involves  all  moral  excellence  that  all  other  things 
without  it  are  declared  to  be  nothing:  "Though  I 
speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels  and 
have  not  charity,  [love,]  I  am  become  as  sounding 
brass  or   a  tinkling   cymbal.     And  though  I  have  the 

*  1  John  iii,  4.  +  Rom.  xiii,  10. 

t  Matt,  xxii,  37—40.      Rom.  xiii,  8.    Gal.  v.  14.  §  Gal.  v.  6. 


^4  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT  III. 

gift  of  prophecy  and  understand  all  mysteries  and 
all  knowledge,  and  though  I  have  all  faith  so  that  I 
could  remove  mountains,  and  have  no  charity,  I  am 
nothing.  And  though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed 
the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned, 
[as  a  martyr,']  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me 
nothing."'^  "^ 

All  holiness  then  consists  in  that  love  to  God,  to 
t-hrist,  and  our  neighbour,  which  stands  opposed  to 
selhshness,  and  causes  us,  when  it  is  perfect,  to  love 
Cjod  with  all  our  heart  and  our  neighbour  as  our- 
selves.    But  who  is  my  neighbour?     Not  my  friend, 
not  my  relation,  not  my  Christian  brother,  not  my 
countryman;  but  the  Samaritcm,  (as  Christ  himself 
explained  it,t )— one  of  another  religion,  of  another 
nation,  reputed  wicked,  and  my  natural  enemy;  one 
that  has  nothing  to  recommend  him  but  that  he  is  a 
man.     In  this  is  involved  the  spirit  of  all  those  pre- 
cepts which  require  us  to  love  our  enemies,  to  exer- 
cise the  most  perfect  good  will  and  kindness  to  the 
evil  and  unthankful.     The  love  then  which   is  the 
lulhllmg  of  the  law,  is  limited  to  no  circle,  no  coun- 
^7'  u     ^'^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^s  man  is  found.     It  is  restrict- 
ed   by  no  partialities,  it  stops  at  no  character,  no 
triendships,  no  aversions,  but  centres  on  simple  being. 
It  stops  not  at /mma^i  being,  but  goes  forth  to  God, 
who  comprehends  in  himself  infinitely  the  greatest 
portion  of  existence.     It    fixes  on  him  supremely, 
and  loves  him,  when  it  is  perfect,  with  all  the  heart 
and  soul  and  mind.     And  if  angels,  if  the  inhabi- 
tants of  all  worlds  should  come  distinctly  into  view 
what  should  hinder  it  from  fixing  on  them  as  it  now 
does  on  God  and  man?  Nor  does  it  stop  at  intelligent 
being;  It  goes  forth  with  entire  good  will  to  the  sensi- 
tive creation,  to  all  that  are  capable  of  pleasure  or 
pain.     Surely  in  the  love  which  is  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law,   must  be  comprehended  that  benevolence 

*  1  Cor.  xiii.  1—3.  t  Luke  x.  29-37. 


LECT.    III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  55 

which  causes  "  a  righteous  man"  to  regard  "the  life 
of  his  beast,''  since  this  is  a  part  of  moral  goodness 
which  God  has  seen  fit  to  approve.^  An  affection 
thus  going  forth  to  being  as  such,  without  regard  to 
character,  relation,  proximity,  or  species,  must  have 
for  Its  object  all  existence  capable  of  pleasure  or 
pam.  It  can  find  nothing  to  limit  it  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  one  world,  except  ignorance  that  others  exist. 
In  a  finite  being  it  will  indeed  act  most  strongly  to- 
wards objects  most  in  view;  but  the  samegood  wfll  that 
can  love  an  enemy  and  wish  well  to  a  brute,  would 
for  the  same  reason  love  millions  of  beings  of  other 
worlds  as  fast  as  they  should  come  into  view.  This 
IS  that  general  benevolence  which  makes  men  o-ood 
citizens  of  the  universe.  This  is  that  law  which'^was 
fitted  for  a  universal  empire.  You  must  possess  do- 
mestic affections  to  render  you  good  members  of  a 
family;  you  must  have  the  more  extended  principle 
of  patriotism  to  render  you  good  members  of  the 
state;  for  the  same  reason  you  must  possess  universal 
benevolence  to  render  you  good  subjects  of  a  kin^r- 
dom  which  comprises  all  worlds  as  so  many  provinces 
of  a  vast  empire.  Nothing  short  of  this  is  holiness, 
family  regulations  are  necessarv  for  the  domestic 
circle;  civil  laws  are  necessary  for 'the  commonwealth- 
but  this  great  law  of  love,  which  knows  no  limit  of 
time  or  place,  is  fitted  to  be  the  statute  of  a  kin^-- 
dom  comprehending  all  worlds.  ° 

But  though  this  affection  fixes  on  general  beino-g 
as  Its  primary  object,  it  has  a  secondary  object  and 
that  IS  Ao/t/  love,  including  both  the  love  o{  beino-  and 
the  love  of  }ioU;ness.  As  it  delights  in  the  happiness 
ot  general  existence,  it  delights  in  that  benevolence 
wfiich  IS  friendly  to  general  existence  and  which 
loves  this  sacred  temper  in  others.  Like  God  him- 
self It  regards  with  complacency  both  the  love  of  be- 
ing and  the  love  of  holiness. 

*  Prov.  xii.  10. 


56  NATURAL   AFFECTIONS  [lECT.  III. 

May  I  not  add  as  a  distinct  idea,  that  this  holy  af- 
fection delights  in  the  measures  on  which  the  happi- 
ness of  general  being  depends,  such  as  the  law  and 
providential  government  of  God  and  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  It  deliglits  also  in  the  irvihs  v\hich  relate  to 
these  measures,  and  in  those  which  relate  to  the 
character  of  God  and  the  mode  of  his  existence, — 
But  this  is  not  a  distinct  idea.  For  to  love  divine 
truths  is  not  distinct  from  loving  the  objects  which 
the  truths  disclose.  Tlie  only  way  in  which  we  see 
the  objects  is  in  the  truths  which  relate  to  them,  and 
all  that  we  see  in  truth  is  the  objects  disclosed. 
Hence  the  unavoidable  inference,  that  the  haters  of 
divine  truth  must  be  strangers  to  holiness. 

But  there   is  one  attribute    of  holy  love  which   I 
wish  to  set  more  distinctly  in  your  view^     Whether 
this  affection  respect  being  or  character,  it  will  ne- 
cessarily regard  God  supremely.     That  benevolence 
which  wishes  well  to  being,  will  value  the  happiness 
of  God  more  than  that  of  all  creatures,  because  he 
comprises  in  himself  infinitely  the  greatest  portion 
of  existence.     That  charity  which  takes  complacen- 
cy in  moral  excellence,  will  love  the  character    of 
God  more  than  that  of  all  creatures,  because  he  pos- 
sesses infinitely  the  greatest  portion  of  benevolence. 
Where    God    therefore  is  not  supremely  loved  there     i 
can  be  no  holiness.     This  will  be  more  evident  when   ^j 
it  is  considered  that  where  he  is  not  loved  supremely  J| 
he  is  not  loved  at  all.^     And  certainly  there  can  be 
no  love  of  general  being  that  ivholly  disregards  him      i 
who  comprises  in  himself  infinitely  the  greatest  por-     I 
tion  of  general  being,  nor  any  love  of  moral  excel- 
lence that  ivholly  disregards  him  who  contains  infi-     [ 
nitely  the  greatest  portion  of  moral  excellence  in 

*■  The  author  does  not  mean  to  approach  the  question,  whether  in  those 
hours  when  the  Chnstian's  love  is  not  supreme^  it  is  extlngxiishedj  nor  the 
question,  whether  love  may  ^xist  in  a.  disposition  when  it  is  not  in  exercise. 
He  only  means  to  say,  that  they  who  never  love  God  supremely  never  love 
him  at  all. 


LECT.  III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  57 

himself.  The  man  who  after  God  is  clearly  reveal- 
ed does  not  love  him,  cannot  possess  a  spark  of  true 
benevolence  nor  any  delight  in  it.  This  will  be  still 
more  evident  when  it  is  considered  that  the  man  who 
does  not  love  God  is  his  enemy.  There  can  be  no  in- 
difference here.  You  may  be  indifferent  to  a  thou- 
sand things  in  which  you  have  no  concern;  but  your 
king,  whose  laws  interfere  with  every  action  of  your 
lives  and  every  motion  of  your  hearts, — that  great 
and  dreadful  king  who  has  you  in  his  hands  and  is  to 
make  you  happy  or  miserable  to  eternity, — to  him 
you  cannot  be  indifferent.  Him  you  must  love  or 
hate.  And  now  let  common  sense  speak.  Can 
there  be  a  particle  of  universal  benevolence  in  those 
who  hate  the  being  that  comprehends  in  himself 
infinitely  the  greatest  portion  of  existence.^  Can 
men  possess  a  particle  of  love  for  moral  excellence, 
who  hate  the  being  that  contains  in  himself  infinitely 
the  greatest  portion  of  moral  excellence,  and  even 
hate  h'lm  for  that  very  reason^ 

I  will  now  show  you  how  far  some  of  the  foregoing 
views  are  supported  by  the  word  of  God.  That 
teaches  us,  in  the  first  place,  that  where  God  is  not 
loved  supremely  he  is  not  loved  at  all.  For,  first,  it 
instructs  us  that  all  who  love  him  in  the  leant  degree^ 
are  accepted  as  Christians  and  heits  of  salvation.  All 
the  promises  are  made  to  those  who  possess  the 
smallest  degree  of  love.  "Whosoever  shall  give 
you  a  cup  of  water  to  drink  in  my  name,  because  ye 
belong  to  Christ,  verily  I  say  unto  you  he  shall  not 
lose  his  reward."  "Be  merciful  unto  me  as  thou 
usest  to  do  unto  those  that  love  thy  name,''^ — in  the 
least  degree.  "We  know  that  all  things  work  togeth- 
er for  good  to  them  that  love  God.''''  "Eye  hath  not 
seen  nor  ear  heard  neither  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him.^^  "The  kingdom  which 
he  hath  promised  to  them  that  love  him."     "The 


58  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT.  III. 

crown  of  life  which  he  hath  promised  to  them  that      \ 
love  him.''^'^     Secondly,  it  teaches  us  that  all  who  are     ,, 
thus  accepted  as  Christians  and  heirs  of  salvation    li 
love  God  supremely.  "He  that  loveth  father  or  moth- 
er more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me,  and  he  that  lov- 
eth son  or  daughter  more  than  7ne  is  not  worthy  of 
me."      ''If  any  man  come  to  me  and  hate  not  his 
father  and  mother  and  wife  and  children  and  breth- 
ren and  sisters,  yea  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot 
he  my  disciple. — Whosoever  he  be  of  you   that  for- 
saketh  not  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." — 
The  great  rival  of  God  is  the  world;  but  Christians 
are  represented  as  being  ^^dead"  to  the  world,  as  not 
coveting  the  world,  (for  "no — covetous  man,  who  is  an 
idolater,    hath   any  inheritance  in   the  kingdom   of 
Christ,")  and  as  even  '^hating  covetousness."     "God 
forbid  that  I  should   glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  ivorld  is  crucified  un^ 
to  me  and  I  unto  the  tvorld."     ^'JVhom  have  I  in  heaven 
but  thee?    and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  be- 
sides thee."     To  "mind  earthly  things,"  to  serve  "the 
creature  more  than  the   Creator,"  to  be  ^'•lovers  of 
pleasures  ynore  than  lovers  of  God,"  to  "love  the  praise 
of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God,"  are  set  down 
as  incontestable  marks  of  unrenewed  nature. f     But 
both  of  the  foregoing  particulars  are  comprised  in  a 
single  text:    "If  any  man  love  the  world,  [suvremely^ 
the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."\  ^ 

Thus  the  Scriptures  instruct  us  that  where  God 
is  not  loved  supremely  he  is  not  loved  at  all.  But 
they  stop  not  here.  They  teach  us  that  the  man 
who  does  not  love  God  is  his  enemy.  "He  that  is  not 
with  me  is  against  me,  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with 

*Ps.  cxix.  132.  Mark  ix.  41.  Rom.  viii.  28.  1  Cor.  ii.  9.  James  i. 
12.  andii.  5.  For  a  vindication  of  this  construction  of  the  above  texts, 
see  Note  to  page  40. 

fExod.  xviii.  21.  Ps.  Ixxiii.  25.  Prov.  xxviii.  16.  Mat.  x.  37.  Luke 
xiv.  2G,  33.  John  xii.  43.  Rom.  i.  25.  1  Cor.  vi.  10.  Gal.  vi.  14.  Eph. 
V.  5.       Phil.  iii.  19.      Col.  iii.  1—3.     2  Tim.  iii.  4. 

X  1  John  ii.  15. 


LECT.  ITI.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  59 

me  scattereth  abroad."  In  one  of  the  ten  command- 
ments, intended  for  all  ages  and  nations,  the  whole 
human  race  are  divided  into  two  classes,  those  who 
love  God  and  those  who  hate  him.  "I  the  Lord  thy 
God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation,  of  them  that  hate  me,  and  showing  mercy 
unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me."^  We  are 
then  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  they  who  do  not 
love  God  supremely  are  his  enemies.  And  this  is  as- 
serted in  express  terms:  "No  man  can  serve  two  mas- 
ters; for  either  he  will  hate  the  one  and  love  the  oth- 
er, or  else  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the 
other:  ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon.'^''  "The 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God:  whoso- 
ever therefore  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the 
enemy  of  God."* 

All  who  do  not  love  God  supremely  are  then  his 
enemies.  But  I  go  further.  All  are  his  enemies 
whose  hearts  and  lives  are  not  governed  by  this  affec- 
tion as  their  ruling  passion,  so  habitually  as  to  form 
their  general  character. "l  What  else  can  be  under- 
stood by  the  passages  already  quoted']  In  these 
there  is  a  character  ascribed  to  Christians,  (including 
all  who  love  God  at  all,)  and  this  character  is,  that 
they  hate  their  nearest  relations  and  even  life  in  com- 
parison with  him;  that  they  do  not  "love  the  world," 
are  not  friends  of  the  world,  do  not  "mind  earthly 

*  Exod.  XX.  5,  6.    Mat.  xii.  30.  f  Mat.  vi.  24.  James  iv.  4. 

^  What  is  said  in  this  and  the  next  paragraph  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  as- 
sertion repeatedly  made,  that  the  least  degree  of  love  entitles  one  to  all  the 
promises.  The  harmony  of  these  thoughts  will  appear  when  it  is  considered, 
(1)  that  all  who  love  God  in  the  least  degree,  nay  all  who  are  not  unre- 
servedly his  enemies ,\o\ e  him  snpremehj.  If  this  point  has  not  been  suf- 
ficiently established, the  reader  is  requested  to  suspend  his  judgment  till 
he  has  perused  the  fourth  lecture.  (2)  All  who  love  God  supremely  are 
Christians  \n  the  highest  sense  of  the  word.  This  will  not  be  denied.  (3) 
All  who  are  truly  Christians  love  God  habitually.  The  proof  of  this  is  to 
be  exhibited  in  the  remaining  part  of  this  second  head.  Therefore,  (4)  all 
who  love  God  in  the  least  degree  love  him  habitually.  In  other  words,  the 
least  degree  of  love  will  certainly  in  all  cases  be  habitual, — on  supposition 
of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints. 


60  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS.  [lECT.    III. 

things,"  are  "dead"  to  the  world,  are  not  "covetous," 
are  not  idolaters,  do  not  "serve  maminon,"  do  not 
serve  "the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,"  are  not 
"lovers  of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God,"  do 
not  "love  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the  praise  of 
God."  Whatever  remaining  sins  they  have,  this  is 
their  character^  their  only  character,  then  certainly 
their  ^e?ieroZ  character.  And  is  it  true  after  all  that 
"nine  hours  out  often,"  they  are  alive  to  the  world, 
are  friends  of  the  world,  are  covetous,  are  idolaters, 
are  servants  of  mammon,  are  lovers  of  pleasures  more 
than  lovers  of  God,  are  enemies  of  God.^  Then  this 
is  their  general  character,  and  by  these  names  they 
ought  to  be  called.  Are  they  who  are  described  as 
serving  God  and  not  mammon,  really  serving  mam- 
mon and  7?o^  God  "nine  hours  out  often:"  After  the 
Bible  has  declared  that  no  covetous  man  shall  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  shall  they  inherit  who  remain 
covetous,  "nine  hours  out  often,"  to  the  day  of  their 
death?  Is  the  good  man  of  the  Bilde  one  who,  "nine 
hours  out  of  ten,"  differs  in  nothing  from  the  wick- 
ed? Do  those  temjjJes  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
^'dwelis,^^  contain,  "nine  hours  out  of  ten,"  nothing 
but  idols  and  enmity  against  God?  Christians  are 
said  not  to  "commit  sin,""^  to  be  "dead  to  sin,"  to  be 
"freed  from  sin,"f  which  is  explained  to  mean  that 
they  do  not  serve  sin. J  And  after  all  do  they  sin 
with  the  prevailing  consent  of  their  minds  "nine 
hours  out  of  ten?"  They  indeed  have  large  remains 
of  indwelling  corruption  and  often  "do  that  which 
[they]  would  not;"  but  they  are  allowed  to  plead,  "It 
is  no  more  1  that  do  it  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  me;"|| 
that  is,  It  is  no  more  I  in  my  general  character. 

It  is  very  apparent  that  men  are  denominated  in 
Scripture  according  to  their  general  character.  For 
example,  when  our  Saviour  says,  "Whosoever  shall 

*  1  John  iii.  9.  t  Rom.  vi.  2,  7, 18,  22.  t  Rom.  vi.  12,  16,  20, 

II  Rom.  vii.  20.  . 


tECT.  III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  Gl 

deny  me  before  men  him  will  I  also  deny  before  ray 
Father,""^  he  must  speak  of  general  character  or 
Pe^er  falls  under  this  sentence.  When  the  apostle 
says,  ^'Whosoever  haieth  his  brother  is  a  murderer,  and 
ye  know  that  no  murderer  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in 
him,"t  he  must  speak  of  general  character  or  David 
fell  from  i^race,  and  indeed  all  the  saints  daily  fall. 
But  David  was  not  a  murderer  nor  Peter  a  denier  of 
Christ  in  the  sense  of  Scripture,  because  such  was 
not  their  genercd  character.  When  it  is  said,  "There 
is  no  condemnation  to  them— who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh  but  after  the  Spirit:— if  ye  live  after  the  flesh 
ye  shall  die;"J  the  reference  must  be  to  general 
character  or  we  must  all  exclaim,  "who  then  can  be 
saved?"  By  analogy  then  the  declaration  that  "no 
covetous  man,  who  is  an  idolater,  hath  any  inheri- 
tance in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,"  must  import  that 
no  Christian  is  covetous  or  idolatrous  in  his  general 
character.  That  is,  no  Christian  habitually  loves  "the 
creature  more  then  the  Creator. "§ 

All  then  who  are  not  the  enemies  of  God,  and  of 
course  utterly  destitute  of  holiness,  are  habitually 
governed  by  supreme  love  to  him.     Or  to  reverse 

*  Mat.  X.  33.  t  1  John  iii.  15.  t  JE^om.  viii.  1.  13. 

§  To  this  concKision  the  author  has  conceived  himself  driven  by  the 
word  of  God .  Any  question  connected  with  the  subject  which  is  not  deci- 
ded by  that  arbiter,  he  dares  not  touchj  for  instance,  whether  the  term /ore, 
as  it  is  used  in  the  Bible,  includes  both  the  disposition  and  the  exercise,  like 
the  root  and  stock  of  a  tree  which  go  in  to  make  one  whole;  how  great  a 
vart  of  the  tinip  the  Christian  exercises  direct  love  to  God;  how  far  his  ex- 
ercises when  God  is  not  the  immediate  object  of  attention,  may  still  be  re- 
garded as  love  to  him.  He  will  venture  to  say  thus  much.  Other  aflec- 
tions  may  hourly  rise  in  the  Christian's  heart;  other  passions  may  occa- 
sionally take  possession  of  his  mind;  other  objects  may  frequently  en^oss 
his  attention:  his  views  may  often  be  obscured  when  his  attention  is  di- 
rected to  God:  through  the  insensible  influence  of  sellish  passions  he  may 
ne"-lect  to  rouse  himself  to  discern  the  will  of  God,  and  by  that  means  may 
onTit  many  self-denying  duties  which  a  realizing  sense  ol  divine  authority 
would  have  enforced:  by  the  same  means  his  attention  may  be  drawn  away 
from  the  interests  of  others  and  leave  his  mind  to  sleep  over  a  perishing 
world  But  in  almost  all  these  seasons  let  God  present  himself  before  him 
and  fix  the  attention  upon  himself,  and  there  is  found  a  temper  to  prefer 
him  and  his  interest  to  all  other  objects:  there  is  found  a  heart  which  in  the 
trying  hour  would  die  for  the  name  of  Jesus. 

^6 


62  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT.    III. 

the  proposition,  all  who  are  not  habitually  governed 
by  supreme  love  to  God,  are  his  enemies  and  utterly 
destitute  of  holiness. 

II.  With  this  standard  let  us  now  compare  the 
world. 

If  all  are  destitute  of  holiness  who  do  not  love 
God  supremely,  who  are  not  habitually  governed  by 
this  affection,  will  any  affirm  that  the  mass  of  man- 
kind possess  a  holy  principle?  Instead  of  supreme 
habitual  love,  I  shall  prove  that  they  do  not  love  God 
at  all  but  are  his  enemies. 

The  mass  of  mankind  do  not  love  God  at  all.     It 
has  already  been  proved  that  they  who  love  God  in 
the  least  degree  are  heirs  of  all  the  promises  and  will 
inherit  eternal  glory:  of  course  all  who  are  not  enti- 
tled to  heaven  are  utterly  destitute  of  this  affection. 
In  the  last  lecture  I  cited  a  number  of  texts  which 
asserted  that  natural  men  do  not  desii'e  God,  do  not 
seek  God,  do  not  fear  God,  do  not  hioiv  God,   and 
have  no  desires  after  Christ.     In  addition  to  all   this 
I  am  now  to  present  you  with  several  classes  of  men 
who  are  expressly  declared  not  to  love  God.     They 
who  hate  any  of  their  fellow  men,  do  not  love  God:  ^^If 
a  man  say,  1  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a 
liar;  for  he  that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen, 
how  can  he  love  Godivhom  hehath  not  seenV  The  rea- 
soning in  tiiis  passage  proves  that  there  is  no  love  to 
God  without  universal  love  to  man;  for  if  a  single  in- 
dividual is^excluded  from  our  good  will,  the  reason- 
ing lies  full  against  us.  Again,  they  who  withhold  alms 
do   not  love  God:    "Whoso  hath  this  world's  goods 
and  seeth  his  brother  have  need  and  shutteth  up  his 
bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  hoiv  dwelleth  the  love 
of  God  in  hiniV  Again,  they  who  reject  the  Gospel  do 
not  love  God.     It  was  on  this  account  that  our  Sa- 
viour said  to  the  Jews,  "I  know  you  that  ye  have  not 
the  love  of  God  in  you.^^  "If  God    were   your  Father 
ye  would  love  me,  for  I  proceeded  forth  and  came  from 


LECT.  III.]  NOT  HOLINESS. 


63 


God;  neither  came  I  of  myself  but  he  sent  me." — 
Again,  they  who  disob..y  God  do  not  love  him:  "He 
that  hath  my  commandments  and  keepeth  them,  he  it 
is  that  lovcih  me, — Jf  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my 
words. — He  that  loveth  me  not  keepeth  not  my  sayings. 
Ye  are  my  friends  if  ye  do  ivhaisoever  I  command  you.^^ 
Again,  none  of  the  wicked  whom  God  will  destroy  have 
any  love  to  him:  ^'The  Lord preserveth  all  them  that 
love  him,  hut  all  the  wicked  ivill  he  destroy.""^ 

All  then  who  either  hate  any  of  their  fellow  men, 
(in  other  words,  lack  universal  love  to  mankind,)  or 
withhold  alms  from  the  needy,  or  reject  the  Gospel, 
or  habitually  disobey  the  divine  commands,  or  are  of 
the  class  that  will  finally  perish,  or  are  not  at  pres- 
ent heirs  of  salvation,  are  utterly  destitute  of  love 
to  God.  And  pray  will  not  these  classes  include 
every  natural  man  on  earth? 

That  natural  men  possess  no  love  to  God  is  fur- 
ther evident  from  this,  that  the  love  of  God  is  "Me 
fruit  of  the  Spirit:^^  "The  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  unto 
us."f  The  same  truth  is  further  evident  from  the 
consideration  that  the  unregenerate  do  not  love  the 
image  of  God  in  his  children.  "fFe  know  that  we 
have  passed  from  death  unto  life  because  we  love  the 
brethren.''^  ^'Every  one  that  loveth  [the  brethren,]  is 
born  of  God  and  knoweth  God. "J 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  whole  mass  of  natural 
men  are  entirely  destitute  of  love  to  God.  Here  I 
might  rest  my  cause.  But  there  is  proof  against  the 
world  still  more  decisive.  The  whole  race  of  nat- 
ural men  are  his  enemies.  It  has  already  appeared 
that  there  are  no  neutrals,  that  they  who  are  not /or 
God  are  against  him.  This,  joined  with  the  last  par- 
ticular, makes  out  full  proof  that  the  whole  body  of 
natural  men  are  his  enemies.     Ai^mn,  it  has  been 


'to' 


*  Ps.  cxlv.  20.    John  v.  42.  and  viii.  42.  and  xiv.  21,  23,  24.  and  xv.  14. 
1  John  iii.  17.  and  iv.  20. 

t  Rom.  V.  5.  :^  1  John  iii.  14.  and  iv.  7. 


64  NATURAL    AEFECTIONS  [lECT.  III. 

proved  that  all  who  serve  mammon,  who  are  friends 
of  the  world,  who  love  another  object  supremely, 
are  the  enemies  of  God.  And  can  it  be  doubted  that 
these  descriptions  are  applicable  to  ail  natural  men? 
But  I  have  further  evidence  to  ofi'er.  Let  us  in  the 
first  place  dispose  of  the  heathen  world.  This  great 
portion  of  the  human  race  are  expressly  set  down  by 
the  apostle,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Pvomans,  as  ^'haters 
of  God."  Nor  did  they  obtain  this  character  by  being 
heathen,  but  they  became  idolaters  because  "/Ac?/  did 
not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  hioivledge."  In  the 
second  place  let  us  settle  tlie  question  as  it  respects 
the  Jeivish  ivoi'ld.  Of  this  second  great  division  of 
mankind  our  Saviour  says;  "They  have  both  seen 
and  hatedhothme  and  my  Father."  In  the  next  place 
let  us  take  up  the  question  as  it  relates  to  the  whole 
world.  And  what  says  our  Saviour  to  this?  "If  the 
WORLD  hate  you  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  before  it 
hated  you. — He  that  hateth  me  hateth  my  Father  also.^' 
On  no  other  principle  can  you  account  for  the  ran- 
corous opposition  which  the  v?rld  have  always  made 
to  the  Gospel  and  disciples  of  Christ.  "Marvel  not 
— if  THE  WORLD  hate  yon."  "If  tl^ey  have  called  the 
master  of  the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much  more 
them  of  his  household. — Think  not  that  I  am  come 
to  send  peace  on  earth;  I  came  not  to  send  peace 
but  a  sword.  For  I  am  come  to  set  a  man  at  vari- 
ance against  his  father  and  the  daughter  against  her 
mother; — and  a  man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own 
household."  "And  the  brother  shall  deliver  up  the 
brother  to  death  and  the  father  the  child;  and  the 
children  shall  rise  up  against  their  parents  and 
cause  them  to  be  put  to  death.  And  ye  shall  be  ha- 
ted of  all  men  for  my  nafne^s  sake."  But  the  apostle 
has  put  this  question  finally  to  rest  by  ranking  all  men 
among  the  "haters  of  God"  who  retain  the  carnal  or 
natural  heart:  "The  carnal  [fleshly']  mind  is  enmity, 
[not  unfriendly,  but  enmity]  against  God;  for  it  is  not 


LECT.  in.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  65 

subject  to  the  law  of  God  neither  indeed  can  be. 
So  then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God." 
If  you  would  know  without  a  doubt  who  they  are 
that  are  in  the  Hesh,  or  possess  the  fleshly  mind,  our 
Saviour  will  tell  you  at  once:  "That  which  is  horn 
of  the  flesh  IS  flesh:'  This  he  said  to  Nicodemus  to 
show  him  from  the  defect  of  the  first  birth  the  neces- 
sity of  being  born  again.  All  that  is  born  hy  nat- 
ural generation  then  \s  flesh,  is  carnal,  is  enmity  against 
(rod,  until  it  is  boj-n  agaiyi.^ 

And  now  let  me  repeat  the  question,  can  there  be 
a  particle  of  universal  benevolence  in  those  who 
hate  the  being  that  comprehends  in  himself  infi- 
nitely the  greatest  portion  of  existence?  Or  a  parti- 
cle of  love  for  moral  excellence  in  those  who  hate 
the  being  that  contains  infinitely  the  greatest  portion 
of  moral  excellence  in  himself,  and  hate  him/or  that 
very  reason^ 

in.  By  the  same  standard  let  us  now  test  the  nat- 
ural principles  which  have  been  mentioned. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  these  princi- 
ples must  be  essentially  diflferent  from  holiness,  be- 
cause they  are  found  in  the  great  mass  of  those  who 
have  been  proved  to  be  destitute  of  holiness.  But 
It  may  be  profitable  to  pursue  this  subject  a  little 
further. 

I  begin  by  remarking  that  these  principles  may 
easily  l)e  conceived  to  have  been  implanted  in  men 
to  fit  them  to  live  together  in  r/m  world,  without  be- 
ing at  all  designed  to  qualify  them  for  subjects  of 
the  universal  kingdom  of  God.  Domestic  afections 
were  lodged  in  their  nature  to  render  them  good 
members  of  a  family.  But  these  cannot  constitute 
them  useful  members  of  the  state  \\\i\\o\\i  patriotism. 
By  analogy  patriotism  and  all  the  other  limited  affec- 
tions cannot  render  them  good  citizens  of  the  universe 
without  universal  love  or  holiness.     And  to  cherish 

*  ^'.^^Aq'^'U'  '^\  ^?  ^y:^^\  J^'in  i'i-  6.  and  v.  40.  and  xv.  18, 23,  24- 
Rom.  1.  28,  30.  and  viii.  7,  8.     1  John  iii.  13. 


66  NATURAL   AFFECTIONS  [leCT.    III. 

the  hope  of  being  qualified  for  heaven  by  these,  is 
like  expecting  by  mere  domestic  affections  to  be  fitted 
to  subserve  and  even  to  manage  the  interests  of  a 
nation  without  a  spark  o^ pati'iotism. 

Some  of  these  principles,  (particularly  the  moral 
sense,)  appear  to  be  essential  to  a  moral  agent. — 
Others,  which  are  of  the  nature  of  disinterested  af- 
fections, were  doubtless  intended  to  act  as  restraints 
on  selfishness,  to  enable  men  to  live  in  society;  as 
without  them  it  is  manifest  the  world  would  be  a 
hell  and  wholly  unfit  for  the  purposes  of  probation. 
But  they  may  all  be  traced  to  sources  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  universal  love.  Of  these  the  principal 
appear  to  be  three. 

( I .)  Self-love.  A  great  part  of  natural  gratitude, 
the  sense  of  honour,  and  the  love  of  country  may  be 
traced  to  this  source;  the  other  parts,  to  sources  yet 
to  be  named.  Now  I  suppose  it  will  be  readily  ac- 
knowledged by  most  of  my  hearers  that  the  mere 
streams  of  self-love  cannot  be  holy. 

(2.)  The  love  of  natural  fitness,  or  of  beautiful 
proportions  and  relations,  both  in  things  material 
and  immaterial.  From  this  principle  men  are  pleas- 
ed with  the  proper  proportions  of  a  building,  the 
good  order  of  a  fiimily,  the  relations  established  in 
a  well  regulated  state,  the  beautiful  proportions  of 
justice,  of  gratitude,  of  the  virtues  generally,  and  the 
exact  fitness  of  one  thing  to  another  in  the  govern- 
ment of  God.  There  is  certainly  much  natural 
beauty  in  all  these  things,  (independent  of  their  sm- 
ple  subserviency  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  happiness  of 
his  creation,)  which  therefore  can  please  a  mind  that 
is  a  stranger  to  universal  love.  Can  you  not  see  a 
wide  diflference  between  delighting  in  proper propo?'- 
tions  and  delighting  in  the  happiness  of  general  being'? 
Yet  to  a  law  of  our  nature  as  distinct  from  benevo- 
lence as  this,  (a  law  aided  indeed  by  many  associa- 
tions of  ideas,)  may  be  traced  the  operations  of  con- 


LECT.    III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  67 

science  or  the  moral  sense,— the  approbation  of  jus- 
tice, of  gratitude,  of  virtue  generally,— the  princi- 
ple which  we  call  taste,— and  a  part  of  those  which 
are  denominated  honour  and  patriotism. 

Are  these  principles  holy?  Try  the  question  in 
relation  to  conscience,  which  perhaps  has  the  fairest 
pretension  to  this  rank.  If  the  approbation  which 
conscience  yields  to  the  character  and  government 
of  God  were  holy  Zoi;e,  remorse  of  conscience  would 
be  true  repentance,  and  then  there  would  be  true  re- 
pentance in  the  world  where  the  ivorm  never  dies. 

(3.)  Instincts.  Under  this  head  may  be  ranked 
a  class  of  affections  really  disinterested,  (because  they 
terminate  in  the  happiness  of  others,)  amounting  to  a 
sort  of  limited  benevolence.  Of  this  class  are  the 
domestic  affections.  Of  this  class  is  humanity,  com- 
prehending compassion,  and  whatever  else  is  pleas- 
ant in  the  social  dispositions  not  included  under  the 
former  names. 

These  affections  are  all  amiable  and  useful  in  their 
place,  and  when  duly  subordinated  materially  aid 
the  local  operations  of  holy  love.  And  being  not 
destructible  but  by  an  uncommon  domination  of  sel- 
fishness, their  extinction  becomes  a  mark  of  the  last 
stages  of  degeneracy.^  But  their  grand  defect  is 
that  they  are  limited  in  their  very  nature  to  a  contracted 
circle.  They  do  not  go  up  to  God,  and  breathe 
through  him  good  wishes  to  the  whole  intellectual 
system.  They  brood  exclusively  over  a  private  in- 
terest, and  unless  bound  by  a  better  principle,  are 
ready  to  fly  in  the  face  of 'the  whole  universe  that 
comes  to  disturb  that.  In  their  greatest  enlarge- 
ment they  still  exclude  the  Creator.  They  step  at 
the  threshold  of  being.  They  fix  on  a  drop  of  the 
ocean.  Should  they  love  a  ivorld  as  tenderly  as  a 
parent  loves  his  child,  and  stop  there,  they  would  still 
be  hostility  to  infinitely  the  greatest  portion  of  exis- 
tence.    A  limited  affection,  (limited  I  mean,  not  by 

*  Rom.  1.  31.        2  Tim.  iii,  3. 


68  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT.  III. 

the  contracted  view  or  capacity  of  the  subject,  but 
by  its  ownnature.)  necessarily  includes,  as  it  stands 
alone,  a  principle  of  hostility  to  the  universe.  The 
parent  rises  against  God  for  taking  away  his  child. "^ 
The  patriot  sets  his  country  in  anny  against  all  the 
rest  of  the  world.  The  most  extended  of  all  these 
private  affections  regards  but  an  infinitely  small  part 
of  universal  being,  and  is  prone  to  set  up  the  inter- 
est of  that  portion  in  opposition  to  the  rest.  Till 
they  are  subdued  and  bound  and  subjected  by  reli- 
gion, they  are  all  as  really  hostile  to  the  universe  as 
the  most  contracted  selfishness. 

Of  all  these  instincts  that  which  most  resembles 
holy  love  is  humanity.  Yet  even  here  the  diffe  rence 
is  easily  traced.  In  those  operations  of  humanity 
which  we  call  compassion,  men  are  generally  satisfied 
with  relieving  the  object  from  misery,  with  little  con- 
cern for  his  positive  happiness.  In  some  cases,  (as 
where  an  enemy  suffers,)  they  do  not  desire  the  pos- 
itive happiness  of  the  object,  nor  even  his  complete 
relief,  but  only  some  alleviation  of  his  sufferings. 
In  no  case  do  they  wish  him  the  kio-hest  degree  even  of 
earthly  prosperity,  and  during  the  greatest  commo- 
tion of  their  pity  would  be  grieved  to  know  that  he 
was  destined  one  day  to  outshine  themselves.  But 
holy  love  knows  no  such  limits:  it  wishes  its  object 
the  greatest  measure  of  happiness  that  his  capacity 
will  admit. 

In  cases  where  humanity  desires  the  positive  hap- 
piness of  ?i  wide  extent  of  society,  it  then  makes,  of  all 
the  natural  affections,  the  nearest  approaches  to  uni- 
versal benevolence.     This  is  the  hardest  case  of  all. 

*  If  you  ascribe  this  effect  to  self-love,  it  does  not  weaken  the  argument. 
As  far  as  the  parent  feels  'a  personal  calamity,  it  is  because  he  loved  his 
child.  Now  if  you  are  disposed  to  put  the  love  of  his  child  on  a  level  with 
the  love  of  ivealth,  and  call  it  a  mere  personal  taste  which  selfishness  loves 
to  gratify,  it  renders  the  affection  no  less  hostile.  But  where  the  parent 
fears  for  the  happiness  of  the  dead,  he  certainly  mourns  for  another  as  well 
as  for  himself.  I  admit  that  \{ sdfAove  were  subjected  he  would  not  mur- 
mur; for  then  his  parental  love  would  be  subjected  also.  But  the  two  still 
appear  to  be  distinct  grounds  of  unsubmission. 


LECT.    III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  69 

But  even  here  the  difference  may  be  plainly  per- 
ceived. For,  first,  if  in  this  shape  humanity  were 
holy  love,  it  would  in  all  its  subjects  stand  connected 
with  the  love  of  God  and  Christ  and  the  Gospel. — 
But  some  of  its  highest  actings  I  have  seen  in  a 
sweet  tempered  infidel,  who  never  betrayed  any 
malice  except  against  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Sec- 
ondly, if  humanity  were  holy  love  it  would  in  all 
cases  wish  its  object  the  best  kind  of  happiness,  that 
of  communion  with  God.  And  thirdly,  it  would 
take  the  highest  complacency  in  that  benevolence 
which  makes  God  its  centre,  and  would  long  to  see 
such  a  temper  universal.  But  in  these  three  impor- 
tant respects  it  fails.  It  acts  vigorously  in  many  an 
infidel  without  exciting  one  solitary  wish  to  see  men 
enjoy  communion  with  God,  without  producing  the 
least  complacency  in  religion  or  any  desire  for  its 
advancement,  without  checking  a  violent  opposition 
to  the  religion  of  Christ  in  every  form. 

This  decisive  proof  of  unholiness  lies  against «// 
these  natural  principles.  You  will  find  them  all  in 
violent  opposers  of  God  and  the  Gospel.  You  might 
have  found  them  all  in  the  Jews,  of  whom  our 
Saviour  said  that  they  had  both  seen  and  hated  both 
him  and  his  Father.  You  might  have  found  them  all 
in  Adam  immediately  after  the  fall,  before  he  began 
to  be  restored  by  grace,  when  it  will  be  acknowl- 
edged that  he  was  totally  depra\^ed.  Indeed  in  a 
slavish  subjection  to  these  and  other  limited  affec- 
tions, which  had  raised  their  objects  to  the  place  of 
God,  his  whole  depravity  consisted. 

Further,  if  these  principles  were  holy  we  should 
expect  to  see  the  love  of  God  and  real  godliness  t^xq- 
\^\\  exactly  in  proportion  to  their  strength.  But  so  far 
from  this  you  find  most  of  them  stronger  in  infidels 
and  libertines  of  mild  and  generous  dispositions, 
than  in  some  Christians  whose  tempers  are  naturally 
contracted  and  sour. 

7 


70  NATURAL    AFFECTIONS  [lECT.    III. 

It  is  another  conclusive  proof  of  the  unholiness 
of  all  these  principles,  that  they  not  only  are  unac- 
companied with  the   love  which  the  divine   law  re- 
quires, but  have  no   tendency  to  produce  it.     The  in- 
stincts, for  instance,  have  no  tendency  to  carry  forth 
the  heart  to  God  and  his  kingdom,   because  affec- 
tions limited  in  their  very  nature  have  no  tendency  to 
become  unlimited.      And  into  no  affection  but  that 
of  universal  benevolence  can  the  love  of  God  enter, 
because  to   love   God  is  to  be  like  him,   and  God  is 
universal  love.      Though   these  instincts  do  indeed 
lay  some  restraints  on  sefjishness,  they  do  not  on  the 
whole  diminish  the   ns;g;res[afe  strcnp'th  of  the  limited 
affections  which   act  against  God.      Of  course  they 
have  no  tendency   to  weaken  the  body  of  sin.     They 
may  garnish  that  body;  th.ey  may  vary  its  forms;  but 
they  still  leave  it  in  full  life.     Show  me  an  unsancti- 
fied  worldling  who  possesses  all  these  principles  in 
the  highest  degree,  and  has  cultivated  them  with  the 
most  studious   care,   and   I  w^ill  show  you  one  who 
loves  himself  as    inordinately    as   any    other  sinner, 
though  his  pride  and  education  and  the   manners  of 
cultivated  society  may  have  thrown  his  selfishness 
into  new  forms  and  drawn  over  it   the  vail  of  good 
breeding.     I  will  show  you  one  whose  pride  is  in  full 
strength,  whose  indolatrous  love  of  the  world  \s  not  a 
whit  abated,   and  whose  nnheilef  has   never  opened 
jtifeyes.      And  with  these  four  grand  sins  of  a  de- 
praved soul   in   full    vigor,   what   has   he   gained  in 
point  of  real  sanctification  by  all   his  natural  princi- 
ples?    A  little  paring  and  polishing  of  the  extremi- 
ties, but  the  pulse  of  sin  still  beats  strong   at  the 
heart.      The   most  that  he  can  boast  of  is  love  to 
man.     But  is  even  that  love  such  as  the  divine  law  re- 
quires?     No,  the  love  contemplated  in  the  Second 
Table,   far  from  being  natural,  is  "the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit,"  the  offspring  o{  regenerating gx^ce:  "Beloved, 
let  us  love  one  another^  for  love  is  of  God,   and  every 
one  that  loveth  is  horn  of  God  and  knoweth  God." — 


LECT.    III.]  NOT    HOLINESS.  71 

"We  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life 
because  we  love  the  brethren.''^  "By  this  we  know 
that  we  love  the  children  of  God,  when  we  love  God 
and  keep  his  commandments.''^^  So  long  as  men  retain 
"the  carnal  mind"  of  "enmity  against  God,"  they 
have  no  true  charity  to  men,  not  even  to  good  men. 
In  every  point  of  view  they  fall  short  of  that  "love" 
which  "is  ihe  fulfilling  of  the  law."  And  this  want- 
ing, what  are  all  their  natural  affections^  This 
MVd^ni'mg,  miraculous  powe?'s  are  nothing,  nothing  the 
consecration  of  «//  their  goods  to  feed  the  poor  and  of 
their  bodies  to  beburned.f  Their  inscription  still  is, 
Destitute  of  that  '''■holiness  without  which  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord" 

Let  the  unregenerate  hear  this.  Let  the  unsanc- 
tified  think  of  this.  Let  it  follow  them  to  their 
closets  and  their  pillows.  And  O  let  the  peal  never 
cease  to  ring  through  their  ears,  Destitute  of  that 
'■'holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,'^ 


*Gal.  V.22.    IJohniii.  14.  andiv.7.  andv.2.  1 1  Cor.  xiii.  1— 3. 


LECTURE   IV. 


SUPREME  LOVE  OR  ENMITY. 


MATTHEW  VI.  24. 

KO  MAN  CAN  SERVE  TWO  MASTERS;  FOR  EITHER  HE  WILL  HATE  THE 
ONE  AND  LOVE  THE  OTHER,  OR  ELSE  HE  WILL  HOLD  TO  THE  ONE 
AND    DESPISE    THE    OTHER:     YE    CANNOT    SERVE    GOD    AND    MAMMON. 

In  the  last  lecture  you  saw  the  doctrine  of  total 
depravity  deduced  from  the  nature  of  holiness;  in 
this  you  will  see  the  same  truth  drawn  from  the  na- 
ture of  sin.  From  the  nature  of  sin  I  shall  under- 
take to  prove  that  the  mass  of  men  are  the  enemies 
of  God;  and  this,  as  appeared  in  the  foregoing  lec- 
ture, amounts  to  the  fullest  proof  that  they  are  total- 
ly depraved. 

Our  text  distinctly  affirms  that  to  love  another 
object  supremely  is  to  be  the  enemy  of  God.  "No 
man  can  serve  two  masters;"  no  man  can  satisfy  two 
conflicting  claims;  no  man  can  be  under  the  com- 
manding influence  of  God  and  mammon.  Either  he 
will  hate  God  and  love  mammon,  or  he  will  cleave  to 
God  and  despise  mammon.  If  one  is  supreme  the 
other  must  be  hated  or  despised.  The  reasoning 
though  applied  io  wealth  is  not  confined  to  it;  the 
application    being  intended  only  to  furnish  an  in- 


LECT.  IV.]     SUPREME  LOVE  OR  ENMITY.  73 

Stance  to  illustrate  what  is  manifestly  laid  down  as 
a  universal  maxim,  that  "no  man  can  serve  two 
masters,"  that  no  man  can  love  two  objects  severally 
and  imperatively  claiming  to  be  supreme.  The 
plain  instruction  is,  that  the  man  who  loves  any 
creature  supremely  is  the  enemy  of  God.  And  this 
is  taught  expressly  by  the  apostle  James:  "The 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God:  whoso- 
ever therefore  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the 
enemy  of  God."* 

When  I  speak  of  supreme  love  to  the  world,  I 
mean  nothing  different  from  supreme  selfAoye.  What 
is  self-love?  No  man  feels  Xhcii  fondness  for  his  own 
person  which  he  may  feel  for  another.  Nothino-  can 
be  meant  by  the  love  of  himself  but  a  regard  for 
the  happiness  attached  to  his  oiun  consciousness.  Now 
that  happiness  can  reach  his  consciousness  through 
no  other  medium  than  the  gratification  of  his  tastes 
and  feelings.  Self-love  then  is  a  regard  for  the  gratifi- 
cation of  one's  own  tastes  and  feelings.  And  what 
is  the  love  of  the  ivorld"?  Not  a  mere  relish  for 
worldly  things,  as  food,  a  landscape,  a  garden,  &c. 
That  relish  is  not  indeed  self-love,  nor  is  it  what  the 
Scriptures  mean  by  the  love  of  the  world.  The 
love  of  the  world  is  a  doting  on  worldly  things.  And 
why.^  No  man  loves  these  things  as  he  loves  beings 
capable  of  pleasure  or  pain,  with  an  affection  termi- 
nating in  them.  He  dotes  on  them,  (except  so  far  as 
he  regards  them  as  the  means  of  happiness  to  others,) 
only  as  instruments  of  his  own  gratification,  that  is,  as 
instruments  of  his  own  happiness.  And  to  dote  on 
wealth  and  honour,  for  instance,  as  the  mere  instru- 
ments of  his  own  happiness,  is  not  distinct  from  lov- 
ing himself  All  that  is  sinful  then  in  the  love  of  the 
world,  (except  the  small  portion  to  be  charged  to 
the  account  of  undue  social  affections,)  is  compre- 

*  James  iv.  4. 
*7 


74  SUPREME    LOVE  '       [lECT.    IV. 

hended  in  inordinate  self-love  or  selfishness.  To 
this  principle  as  the  grand  root  of  sin  I  now  wish  to 
draw  your  attention.  The  thoughts  which  I  have  to 
suggest  on  tliis  subject  shall  be  arranged  under  the 
following  heads: 

I.  The  grand  root  of  sin  is  inordinate  self-love. 

II.  Every  man  who  is  not  supremely  attached  to 
God  is  supremely  attached  to  himself. 

III.  Supreme  self-love  necessarily  produces  en- 
mity to  God. — It  follows  from  these  principles, 

IV.  That  all  men  by  nature  are  God's  enemies. 
I.     The  grand  root  of  sin  is  inordinate  self-love. 
Unless  something  is  loved  or  regarded  as  desirable, 

there  can  be  no  motive  to  action,  no  excitation  of 
feeling,  nothing  to  inflame  the  passions.  The  love 
of  something  therefore  must  precede  every  sinful 
action  or  emotion.  As  then  holiness  radically  con- 
sists in  the  love  of  universal  being,  (as  was  shown  in 
the  last  lecture,)  the  root  of  sin,  its  opposite,  must 
be  found  in  love  confined  to  a  private  circle  or  object, 
— in  afl^ections  so  limited  as  to  set  up  the  interest  or 
gratification  of  an  individual,  a  family,  a  country,  or 
a  world,  in  opposition  to  the  interest  of  God  and  the 
universe.  Now  it  is  a  law  of  these  limited  affections 
that  their  strength  increases  as  their  circles  contract. 
No  man  loves  the  world  at  laro^e  as  well  as  he  loves 
his  own  country,  nor  his  country  as  well  as  his  fam- 
ily, nor  his  family  as  well  as  himself.  Self-love*  of 
course  becomes  the  ruling  passion  and  by  far  the 
most  productive  source  of  sin.  It  is  obviously  this 
which  produces  p'zWe;  and  "only  by  pride  cometh 
conteniion.^^\  Only  by  pride  come  therefore  the 
causes  of  contention,  viz.  anger,  malice,  envy,  self-will, 
ambition,  and  I  may  add,  the  whole  family  of  depen- 

*  When  I  speak  of  self-love  as  the  source  of  sin,  I  mean  self-love  un- 
subjectcd  btj  a  higher  principle,  or  inordinate  self-love,  properly  denomi- 
nated selfishness.  Mere  self-love  is  only  the  love  of  happiness,  and  aver- 
sion to  misery,  and  so  far  from  being-  sinful,  is  an  essential  attribute  of  a 
rational  and  even  of  a  sensitive  nature.  t  Prov.  xiii.  10. 


LECT.   IV.]  OR    ENMITY.  75 

dant  vices.  Self-love  originates  almost  all  the  ac- 
tions which  men  have  agreed  to  denominate  crimes. 
Self-love,  fixing  chiefly  on  the  world  as  the  grand 
instrument  of  personal  gratification,  offers  all  the 
worship  that  is  paid  to  the  world's  trinity,  riches, 
honouTj  and  pleasure.  How  great  a  proportion  of 
the  sin  of  man  is  comprehended  in  this  operation  of 
selfishness,  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact  that  a 
single  branch  of  this  idolatry,  viz.  "the  love  of  mon- 
ey,") has  been  pronounced  by  an  apostle  "the  root 
of  all  evil. "^  Self-love,  while  it  often  acts  towards 
God  in  gratitude  and  desires  after  future  happiness, 
is  almost  the  exclusive  source,  as  will  presently  ap- 
pear, of  all  the  enmity  that  is  exercised  against  him. 
That  this  principle  in  its  inordinate  degrees  is  the 
exact  opposite  of  holy  love  or  charity,  will  be  evi- 
dent from  almost  any  selection  you  can  make  from 
the  precepts,  prohibitions,  or  didactic  parts  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  following  texts,  selected  almost  at  ran- 
dom, will  be  sufficient  for  the  pur[)ose.f 

THE    DISINTERESTEDNESS    AND  THE    BIAS    OF    SIN    TOWARDS 

SELF-DENIAL  OF  HOLY  LOVE.  ONE's    OWN    INTEREST. 

"Charity — seeketh  not  her  "Men  shall  be  lovers  of 

own.^''  their  own  selves.'''* 

"If  any    man    will  come  "Who    have    said, — our 

after  me,  let  him  deny  him-     lips  are  our  oivn^  who  is  lord 
5e//and  take  up  his  cross."     over  usV     "My  river  is  my 

oivn,  and  /have  made  it  for 
'imjself.'*^ 
"If  thou  turn  away — from  "How    can    ye    believe 

doing    thy   pleasure    on  my     which  receive  honour  one  of 
holy    day, — not  doing  thine     another?" 

*  1  Tim.  vi.  10. 

t  Some  of  the  texts  in  the  left  cohimn  are  quoted  only  to  show  how  con- 
stantly the  divine  Spirit  espouses  the  part  of  others  against  self,  by  ap- 
pealing- to  what  we  ourselves  have  done  against  others,  or  what  mercy  we 
ourselves  need  from  others,  or  by  insisting-  that  our  regard  for  others 
should  be  measured  by  the  claims  which  we  make  on  them.  In  the  right 
column  several  texts  are  inserted  merely  to  show  how  many  different  sorts 
of  sin  may  at  first  sight;  or  by  a  moment's  reflection,  be  traced  to  this 
source. 


76 


SUPREME    LOVE 


[lect.  IV. 


oivn  ways,  nor  finding  thine 
oion  pleasure^ — then — I  will 
— feed  thee." 

^'Whosoever  will  lose  his 
life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it." 

"Let  no  man  seek  his  own 
but  every  man  another^s 
wealth."  "Look  not  every 
man  on  his  own  things,  but 
every  man  also  on  the  things 
of  other s.^^ 

"As  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  ijou,  do  ye  also 
to  them  likewise."  "For 
all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one 
word,  even  in  this,  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself.'' 

"We  then  that  are  strong 
ought  to  bear  the  infirmities 
of  the  weak  and  not  to 
please  ourselves.  Let  every 
one  of  us  jjlease  his  neigh- 
hour  for  his  good  to  edifica- 
tion; for  even  Christ  p/easecZ 
not  himself.'''  "If  a  man  be 
overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which 
are  spiritual  restore  such  a 
one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness, 
considering  thyself  lest  thou 
also  be  tempted.  Bear  ye 
one  another's  burdens  and  so 
fulfil  the  law  of  Christ." 
"Take  no  heed  unto  all  words 
that  are  spoken,  lest  thou 
hear  thy  servant  curse  thee: 
for  oftentimes  also  thine  own 
heart  knoweth  that  thou  thy- 
self likewise  hast  cursed  oth- 
ers.'"* 

"Avenge  not  yourselves 
but  rather   give  place  unto 


"Whosoever  will  save  his 
life  shall  lose  it." 

"All  seek  their  own.,  not 
the  things  which  are  Jesus 
Christ's."  "They— serve 
not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
but  their  own  belly." 

"If  ye  were  of  the  world 
the  world  would  love  his  own; 
but  because  ye  are  not  of  the 
world, — therefore  the  world 
hateth  you." 

"Why  beholdest  thou  the 
mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's 
eye,  and  considerest  not  the 
beam  that  is  in  thine  own 
eye  V  "Wherein  thou  judg- 
est  another  thou  condemnest 
thyself.  Thou — art  confident 
that  thou  thyself  art  a  guide 
of  the  blind, — an  instructer 
of  the  foolish. — Thou  there- 
fore which  teachest  another, 
teachest  thou  not  thyself^ 
Thou  that  preachest  a  man 
should  not  steal^  dost  thou 
steal.?" 


"From  whence  come  wars 
and    fightings    among    you.^ 


LECT. 


IV.] 


OR    ENMITY. 


77 


wrath."  '^Recompense  no 
man  evil  for  evil."  "For- 
give and  ye  shall  be  forgiv- 
en." "Love  your  enemies, 
do  good  to  them  which  hate 
yoUj  bless  them  that  curse 
1/ow,  and  pray  for  them  that 
despitefully  use  you.  And 
unto  him  that  smiteth  thee 
an  the  cheek  offer  also  the 
other. — For  if  we  love  them 


which  love 


you, 


what  thank 


have  ye.-*  for  sinners  also  love 
those  that  love  them.  And 
if  ye  do  good  to  them  which 
do  good  to  you,  what  thank 
have  ye?  for  sinners  also  do 
even  the  same." 

"If  there  be — any  comfort 
of  love, — let  nothing  be  done 
through  strife  or  vain  glory; 
but  in  lowliness  of  mind  let 
each  esteem  other  better  than 
themselves.^"*  "Be  kindly  af- 
fectioned  one  to  another  with 
brotherly  love,  in  honour 
preferring  one  another.'*'' — 
"Seekest  thou  great  things 
for  thyself  1  seek  them  not." 
"Mind  not 
condescend  to  men 
estate.  Be  not  wise  in  your 
own  conceits.'*'*  "For  I  say 
— to  every  man — not  to  think 
of  himself  more  highly  than 
he  ought  to  think."  "We 
had  the  sentence  of  death  in 
ourselves,  that  we  should  not 
trust  in  ourselves  but  in 
God."  "Trust  in  the  Lord 
with  all  thy  heart  and  lean 


high   thinos,  but 
of   low 


Come  they  not  hence,  even 
of  your  lusts?  [selfish  covei- 
ings,  according  to  that  ex- 
planation, "I  had  not  known 
lust  except  the  law  had  said, 
Thou  shaltnotcove^."]— Ye 
lust  and  have  not;  ye  kill, 
and  desire  to  have,  and  can- 
not obtain;  ye  fight  and  war, 
and  yet  ye  have  not." 


"Only  by  pride  cometh 
contention."  [The  selfish- 
ness of  pride  is  apparent  to 
all,]  "He  that  is  of  a  proud 
heart  stirreth  up  strife." 
'^Desirous  of  vain  glory, 
provoking  one  another,  envy- 
ing one  another."  "Pre- 
sumptuous are  they,  self- 
ivilled,  they  are  not  afraid 
to  speak  evil  of  dignities." 
"Ye  are  they  which  justify 
yourselves  before  men."  "I 
have  spread  out  my  hands  all 
day  unto  a  rebellious  people, 
—which  say,  stand  by  thy- 
self, come  not  near  to  me, 
for  Jam  holier  than  f/iow." 
"Thou  hast  done  foolishly  in 
lifting  up  thyself  "Be  not 
riofhteous  overmuch,  neither 
make  thyself  o^erwise. 


7S 


SUPREME    LOVE 


[lECT,    IV. 


not  unto  thine  own  under- 
standing-.— Be  not  wise  in 
thine  own  e^/es."  ^'Charity 
vaiinteih  not  itself,  is  not 
puffed  «jp." 

"We  preach  not  ourselves 
but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord, 
and  ourselves  your  servants 
for  Jesus  sake."  "Being 
affectionately  desirous  of  you, 
we  were  willing  to  have  im- 
parted unto  you,  not  the 
Gospel  of  God  only,  but  also 
our  own  souls,  because  ye 
were  dear  unto  us." 

"Who  shall  dwell  in  thy 
holy  hill.? — he  that  swear- 
eth  to  his  own  hurt  and 
change th  not." 


no   man  any  thing  but 


"Render — to  all  ihtudues; 
tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due, 
custom  to  whom    custom. — 
Owe 
to  love  one  another." 

"Him  that  taketh  away 
thy  cloak,  forbid  not  to  take 
thy  coat  also.  Give  to  every 
one  that  asketh  of  thee,  and 
of  him  that  taketh  away  thy 
goods  ask  them  not  again. — 
If  you  lend  to  them  of  whom 
ye  hope  to  receive,  what 
thank  have  ye.?  for  sinners  l-en." 
also  lend  to  sinners  to  receive 
as  much  again.      But— do 


*^Some  indeed  preach 
Christ  even  of  envy  and 
strife.-The  one  preach  Christ 
of  contention, — the  other  of 
love^  "He  that  is  a  hire- 
ling,— whose  own  the  sheep 
are  not,  seeth  the  wolf  com- 
ing and  leaveth  the  sheep  and 
fleeth." 

"Take  ye  heed  every  one 
of  his  neighbour  and  trust  ye 
not  in  any  brother;  for  every 
brother  will  utterly  supplant 
and  every  neighbour  will  walk 
with  slanders.  And  they 
will  deceive  every  one  his 
neighbour  and  will  not  speak 
the  truthy  "The  balances 
of  deceit  are  in  his  hand;  he 
loveth  oppression. ^"^ 


"There  is  utterly  a  fault 
among  you  because  ye  go  to 
law  one  with  another.  Why 
do  ye  not  rather  tahe  wrongl 
Why  do  ye  not  rather  suffer 
yourselves  to  he  defrauded? 
Nay  ye  do  wrong  and  de- 
fraud, and  that  your  breth- 
ren.*" 


LECT.  IV.] 


OR   ENMITY. 


79 


good   and    lend,  hoping  for 

nothing  again.'''' 

"Use    hospitality    one  to         ccxhey  murmured  against 

another  without  grudging.'      ^^^  ^^^^   ^^^  of  the  house, 

saying-,  These  have  wrought 
but  one  hour,  and  thou  hast 
made  them  equal  unto  us 
which  have  borne  the  burden 
"Sell   that   ye   have    and     and  heat  of  the  day." 

give  alms.''    "Remember —         "Hear  this  word,  ye  kine 

them  which  suffer  adversity     of  Bashan — which    oppress 

as   being  yourselves   also  in     the  poor."* 

the  body." 

These  passages,  and  numberless  others  which 
might  be  selected,  manifestly  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  controversy  lies  between  a  man's  own  self 
and  all  beings  beyond  him,  and  to  an  eye  that  close- 
ly inspects  them  render  it  sufficiently  evident  that 
self-denial  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  holiness,  and 
that  the  great  root  of  sin  is  inordinate  self-love. 

II.  Every  man  who  is  not  supremely  attached  to 
God  is  supremely  attached  to  himself. 

Every  man  has  some  one  object  of  supreme  regard. 
This  vvill  probably  not  be  denied.  It  will  hardly  be 
pretended  that  among  the  objects  in  highest  esteem 
there  are  several  which  hold  exactly  an  equal  rank. 
Every  man  has  his  ruling  passion;  every  man  has  his 
god;  every  man  has  his  ''master."  But  "no  man  can 
serve  two  masters."  I  assume  then  that  every  man 
has  some  one  object  of  supreme  regard.  But  in  the 
universe  there  are  but  two  that  can  possibly  rise  to 

*  Ps.  xil.  4.  and  xv.  1,  4.  Prov.  iii.  5,7.  and  xiii.  10.  and  xxviii.  25.  and 
XXX.  32.  Eccl.  vii.  16,21,  22.  Isai.  Iviii.  13,  14.  and  Ixv.  2,  5.  Jcr.  ix.  4. 
5.  and  xlv.  5.  Ezek.  xxix.  3.  Hns.  xli.  7.  Amos  iv.  1.  3Iat.  vn.  3.  and 
I  xvi.  24  25.  and  xx.  11,  12.  Luke  vi.  27—37.  and  xii.  33.  and  xvi.  15. 
John  X.'  12.  and  XV.  19.  Rom.  ii.  1,  17—23.  and  vii.  7.  and  xii.  3,  10,  16, 
19.  and  xiii.  7,  8.  and  xv.  1—3.  and  xvi.  18.  1  Cor.  vi.  7,  8.  and  x.  24.  and 
.  xiii.  4.  5.  2  Cor.  i.  9.  and  iv.  5.  Gal.  v.  14,  26.  and  vi.  1,  2.  Plnl.  i.  15— 
17.  and  ii.  1,  3, 4,  21.  1  Thes.  ii.  8.  2  Tim.  iii.  2.  Heb.  xiii.  3.  James 
iv.  1,2.     IPet.  iv.  9.    2  Pet.  ii.  10. 


BO  SUPREME    LOVE  [lECT.    IV. 

this  rank,  Go^and  self.    Where  can  you  find  a  third? 
Is  it  the  world9  But  all  love  of  the  world  is  compre- 
hended in  ^ey-love,  as  has  been  already   shown. — 
Where  then  can  you  find  the  third?  If  there  were  a 
third  it  must  be  some  felloiv  creature  or  community  of 
creatures.     But  no  man  ever  loved  his  fellow   crea- 
tures supremely.    The  social  affections  may  restrain 
selfishnessbui  cannotdethrone  self.     Wherever  one's 
essential  interest  in  both  worlds  comes  in  competi- 
tion with  that  of  others,  selt-love  and  not  the  social 
affections  will  prevail.     For  the  proof  of  this  I  con- 
fidently appeal   to    every  man's    conciousness,  and 
am  willing  to  rest  my  cause  there  without  further 
argument. 

It  may  then  be  adopted  as  an  incontrovertible 
maxim,  that  every  man  makes  either  God  or  himself 
his  supreme  object.* 

*  There  are  some  who  disown  the  distinction  between  seljjsh  and  disin- 
terested affections:  and  others,  who  while  the}'  admit  the  distinction,  main- 
tain that  ail  men  love  themselves  supremely,  (that  is,  desire  their  own  hap- 
piness more  than  any  thing'  else,)    and  that   the  only  difference  between  a 
good  and  a  bad  man  is,    that  one  places  his   happiness  in  right  thing's  the  : 
other  in  lorong.     In  answer  to  the  tirst  class,  I  freely  concede  that  in  two 
thing's  all   being's  agree, — in  following  their  inclinations,  and  in  finding' 
their  happiness,  so  I'ar  as  they  find  it  at  all,  in  the  gratijication  of  their  in- 
clinations.    But   the   great   difference  lies  in  their  objects.     The  object  of 
the  selfish  man  is  the  gratification  of  himsel/,  the  object  of  the  disinterest- 
ed man   the  happiness  of  others.     One  follows  his  inclinations  for  the  mere 
satisfaction  which  he  is  thence  to  derive,  the  other  for  the  happiness  which 
he  hopes  to  impart  to  others.     When  you  spring'  to  catch  a  falling  child,  is 
it  from  the  rejlection   that  you  must  suffer  with  it,  or  from  direct  regard  to 
the  comfort  of  the  child?     Do  you  wish  that  your  dying  friend  may  be  hap- 
P3',  or  merely  that  you  may  think  he  is   happy?     In  laying  out  a  course  of 
benevolent  conduct,  where    the  mind   has    leisure  to    contemplate  all   the 
good  resulting  from  its  plans,  self-love  will  doubtless  take  into  account  the 
personal  satisfaction  of  doing  good.     But  if  self-love  stood  alone,   lohence 
the  satisfaction  of  imparting  happiness?     If  I  love  only  myself,  why  is  it  a 
pleasure  to  relieve  another?     Whence  comes  the  inclination?     That  must 
be  in  complete  existence  before  I  have  any  chance  to  draw  personal  com- 
fort from  its  indulgence.     It  could  not  be  created   bj'  the   reflection  that  if 
I  possessed  and  indulged  it  I  should  be   happy.     But  can  it  be  necessary 
to  employ  arguments  to  prove  that  we  are  capable  of  veaMy  loving  another, 
and  of  being   gratified  by  his  happiness  in  itself  considered?     And  this  is 
all  that  any  one  means  by  disinterested  love. 

In  reply  to  the  other  class,  I  as  freely  concede  that  the   difference  be- 
tween a  good  and  a  bad  man  consists  in  their  placing  their  happiness,  the 


LECT.    IV.]  OR    ENMITY.  81 

III.  Supreme  self-love  necessarily  produces  en- 
mity to  God. 

The  simple  reason  is  that  God  is  opposed  to  this 
idolatry,  and  requires  upon  pain  of  eternal  death 
that  universal  love  which  will  fix  the  heart  supremely 
on  himself.  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy 
mind, — and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself:^'"^  thyself  then 
only  as  thy  neighbour.  If  supreme  love  to  your 
neighbour  is  not  allowed,  neither  is  supreme  love 
to  yourself.  But  is  your  neighbour  to  be  loved 
with  all  the  heart  and  soul  and  mind?  That  love  is 
reserved  for  God.  And  it  is  supreme,  unless  one,  at 
the  same  moment  that  he  thus  loves  God,  can  love 
another  object  with  more  than  all  the  heart  and  soul 
and  mind.  Thus  speaks  the  law,  and  sanctions  the 
precept  with  all  its  curses.  And  what  says  the 
GospeM  "If  any  man  come  to  me  and  hate  not 
his  father  and  mother  and  wife  and  children  and 
brethren  and  sisters,  yea  and  his  own  life  also,  he 
cannot  he  my  disciple.^''\  By  the  consent  then  of  both 
law  and  Gospel,  all  are  consigned  to  eternal  death 
who  do  not  love  God  supremely. 

one  in  right  things,  the  other  in  wrong.  But  is  it  the  right  things,  or  his 
own  hnppinefts  which  the  good  man  makes  his  supreme  object?  Tiiis  is  the 
question.  While  the  wicked  place  their  whole  happiness  in  gratifying  af- 
fections which  terminate  in  tlicmselres  or  a  limited  circle,  the  "right  things" 
hi  which  the  good  place  their  highest  happiness,  (I  suppose  will  not  bo  de- 
nied,) are  the  glory  of  God  and  the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom.  Now  I 
ask,  is  the  satisfaction  which  they  hope  to  derive  to  themselves  from  that 
good,  or  the  good  itself,  their  supreme  object?  Do  they  rejoice  more  in 
the  reflection  that  they,  (rather  than  others.)  shall  enjoij  the  sight  of  God's 
glory,  than  that  God  will  be  glorified?  If  so  they  no  longer  place  their 
supreme  happiness  in  his  glory  but  in  their  own  gratification, — a  gratifica- 
tion more  refined  indeed  than  the  grosser  pleasures  of  sense,  but  still  per- 
sonal and  private.  To  say  that  they  place  their  supreme  happiness  in  the 
glory  of  God  and  yet  make  their  own  happiness  the  highest  object,  is  a 
plain  contradiction.  For  to  place  their  supreme  happiness  in  the  glory  of 
God,  necessarily  implies  diat  they  love  and  value  his  glory  more  than  any 
other  object.  I  love  that  most  in  which  I  place  my  highest  delight.  How 
comes  ii  to  pass  thai  the  glory  of  God  gives  me  the  greatest  satisfactiorv, 
unless  I  love  it  most?  And  if  I  love  it  most,  I  seek  it  most.  And  if  I  love 
auid  seek  it  most,  I  make  it  my  supreme  object. 

*  Mat.  xxii.  37—39.  t  Luke  xiv.  2G. 

8 


82  SUPREME    LOVE  [lECT.    IV. 

This  it  is  which  rouses  the  war.  Supreme  self- 
ishness cannot  but  be  the  eternal  enemy  of  a  God 
who  makes  such  demands  and  enforces  them  with 
such  penalties,  because  the  demands  and  sanctions 
crush  and  destroy  all  its  dearest  interests.  Here 
lies  the  main  ground  of  hostility.  "The  carnal, 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  [because]  it  is 
not  subject  to  the  law  of  God  neither  indeed  can 
be."^  A  moral  governour,  who  has  never  been  re-;-) 
vealed  but  in  the  attitude  of  standinsf  with  a  drawn 
sword  between  the  sinner  and  his  idols,  and  saying, 
Touch  that  idol  and  yon  die,  cannot  but  be  hated  by 
a  supremely  selfish  heart.  Since  the  world  began 
was  it  ever  known  that  one  stood  full  in  the  way  of 
the  supreme  object  of  a  seifish  man  and  was  not  ha- 
ted? The  man  that  idolizes  himself  and  the  instru- 
ments of  his  own  gratification,  cannot  but  hate  the 
divine  holiness,  because  the  whole  strength  of  that 
perfection  acts  directly  against  him.  The  whole 
exhibition  of  that  perfection  consists  in  the  prohi- 
bition and  punishment  of  this  idolatry, — in  the  voice 
that  sounds  through  heaven  and  earth,  "Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me;"  "Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart — and  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself,'-  or  suffer  eternal  pain.  Remove 
that  prohibition  and  punishment,  and  you  cover 
from  creatures  every  trace  of  the  divine  holiness. 
Against  the  man  then  who  supremely  loves  himself, 
the  whole  strength  of  the  divine  holiness  exclusively 
acts;  against  all  the  holiness  of  God,  (indeed  against 
his  whole  authority)  acts  the  man  whose  heart  cen- 
tres in  himself  What  but  enmity  and  eternal  war 
can  exist  in  such  a  case? 

But  you  say,  I  certainly  can  love  another  object 
while  I  love  myself  supremely.  You  can,  where  that 
object  does  not  interfere  with  self-love  by  essen- 
tially opposing  your  own  interest.     But    you    ask, 

*  Rom.  viii.  7. 


LECT.    IV.]  OR    ENMITY.  83 

can  I  not  love  an  earthly  parent  some  while  I  love 
myself  inore?  No, — if  that  parent  unchangeably  de- 
clares, I  will  treat  you  as  an  enemy  forever  unless 
you  love  nje  supremely;  do  this  or  die; — if  he  fol- 
lows you  wherever  you  go,  and  jfills  your  ears  with 
this  sound  from  morning  to  night,  and  from  month 
to  month, — if  every  gift  which  he  puts  into  your 
hand  is  accompanied  with  this  declaration, — and 
especially  '\{  his  character  is  all  of  a  piece.  Your  deaf 
mid  forgetful  brother,  who  is  unconscious  of  his  fa- 
ther's law  and  character,  may  love  h\s gifts,  and  feel 
some  gratitude  to  the  giver;  but  you,  as  certainly  as 
you  love  yourself  supremely,  can  never  love  such  a 
parent,  but  must  feel  the  strongest  enmity  against 
him.  But  you  say,  I  could  exercise  some  love  to- 
wards him  if  I  was  convinced  that  his  law  was  just. 
What,  love  justice  against  yourself,  and  yet  be  su- 
premely selfish!  If  your  own  interest  is  paramount 
in  your  affections  to  all  other  considerations,  what 
can  induce  you  to  love  that  justice  which  destroys 
your  interest?  That  you  might  love  the  justice  if  it 
were  not  against  yon,  I  do  not  deny.  I  have  admit- 
ted that  sinners  would  not  hate  God  if  his  law  were 
not  against  them.  It  of  course  happens  that  they 
who  have  expunged  from  their  creed  all  intimations 
of  punishment,  find  no  difficulty  in  loving  the  god 
which  their  fancies  have  formed.  The  enmity  of 
sinners  is  not  disinterested  but  selfish,  as  it  must  be 
if  it  arises  from  inordinate  self-love.  But  did  you 
ever  know  a  selfish  man  who  loved  the  law  that  con-' 
demned  him^  or  loved  the  law-giver,  whose  whole 
character  was  transfused  into  the  law,  and  who  was 
himself  the  executioner'? 

Love  the  justice  which  condemns  you!  Do  you 
consider  where  you  stand?  You  have  now  taken 
the  ground  of  disinterested  and  holy  love.  And  what, 
I  pray,  can  prevent  that  affection  from  fixing  su- 
premely on  God?     There  is  more  in  him  to  please 


84  SUPREME    LOVE  TlECT.    IT.! 

r 

and  gratify  such  an  affection  than  in  the  universe' 
besides.  Do  you  say,  that  affection  will  indeed 
love  God  more  than  the  same  affection  will  love  any' 
thing  else,  (because  it  will  love  him  solely,)  but  it  is 
weak,  and  self-love  is  strong  and  has  predominating 
influence?  The  question  then  comes  to  this,  wheth- 
er an  affection  which  delights  in  God  alone,  can 
exist  in  a  soul  that  is  under  the  governing  influence 
of  selfishness,  and  of  course  under  the  governing 
influence  of  enmity  to  him.  Now  did  you  ever  find 
a  mind  balanced  after  this  sort?  Did  you  ever  find 
a  mind  governed  by  enmity  against  a  man  of  a  uni- 
form and  consistent  character,  and  at  the  same  time 
possessed  of  an  affection  which  loved  his  li'Ao/e  char- 
acter? Such  a  phenomenon  has  never  appeared  in 
the  moral  or  social  world,  and  the  fancy  which  crea- 
ted it  is  only  a  dream.  It  is  apparent  then  that 
there  cannot  be  a  particle  of  disinterested  and  holy 
love  which  does  not  fix  supremely  on  God,  (whenever 
the  mind  has  a  distinct  view  of  him,)  nor  a  particle 
of  love  to  God  which,  (under  the  same  circumstan- 
ces,) does  not  govern  the  soul;  and  that  where  self- 
love  predominates,  (in  a  fair  view  of  all  the  objects 
which  solicit  regard,)  enmity  to  God  must  exist, 
must  prevail,  and  exclude  every  better  afiection  to- 
wards him.  No  affection  but  that  of  universal  love 
will  truly  fix  on  God;  but  how  can  universal  love 
exist  in  a  heart  that  would  sacrifice  the  universe  to 
serve  a  private  end? 

I  have  one  more  question  on  this  subject.  If  su- 
preme selfislmess  is  not  sufficient  to  produce  en- 
mity to  God,  pray  ivhat  ever  did  produce  it  in  any 
mind^  What  greater  cause  ever  produced  it  in  wick- 
ed men  or  devils?  Nothing  worse  existed  in  Cain 
or  Judas,  nothing  worse  can  be  found  in  hell. 

IV.  It  follows  from  these  principles  that  all  men 
by  nature  are  the  enemies  of  God. 


LECT.  IV.]  OR    ENMITV.  85 

Independently  of  these  reasonings  it   might   be 
concluded  that  if  there  is  any  such  thing  in  the  world 
as  ''the  fleshly  mind"  which  "is  enmity  against  God," 
it  must  belong  to  every  one  that  is  "born  of  the  flesh," 
for  "that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  \s  flesh''  in  every 
instance;  that  if  there  is  any  such  thing  in  the  world 
as    "the  natural  man"  who  regards  "the  tlnngs  of 
the  Spirit  of  God"  as  "foolishness,"  it  must  be  every 
man  as  he  is  by  nature.-^     But  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  though  mankind  were  thus  depraved  as  they 
stood  connected  with  the  first  Adam,  they  were  in 
some  degree  restored  by  Christ,  and  in  this  restored 
state  are'born  into  the  world.     Now  if  what  has  been 
said  under  the  preceding  heads  is  true,  this  question 
is  fairly  laid  to  rest.     None  are  in  fact  raised  above 
the  character  oUnemies  of  God  but  they  who  are  re- 
stored to  supreme   love.     After  all    that  Christ   has 
done,  the   world  are  still  divided  into  two  classes, 
they  who  hate  God  and  they  who  love  him  supremely. 
All  who  are  not  restored  to  the  temper  of  real  Chris- 
tians and  martyrs,  are  settled  in  enmity  against  him, 
without  one    solitary    emotion  of  love.     And  what 
were    they   ever  worse  than  this  even  in  the  eye  of 
law?     What  worse  character  does  any  evangelical 
minister  ascribe  to  "the  fleshly  mind"  as  it  now  is  or 
as  it  ever  was?     Until  therefore  you  prove,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  whole  tenour  of  revelation  and   experi- 
ence, that  all  the  world  are  supremely  attached  to  the 
true  God,  you  must  admit  that  some  are  not  raised  a 
whit  above  their  original  pollution. 

Again  I  have  heard  it  said  that  "the  natural  man 
is  a  heathen,  and  that  the  regeneration  which  our  Sa- 
viour pronounced  so  necessary  for  admission  to  his 
kingdom,!  is  only  a  turning  from  paganism.  This 
by  the  way  would  fairly  exclude  every  heathen  on 
earth  from  salvation,— an  inference  not  very  accept- 
able to  the  generality  of  those  who  would   fritter 

*  John  iii.  6.    Rom.  viii.  7.    1  Cor.  ii.  14  t  John  iii.  3, 5. 

*8 


86  SUPREME    LOVE  [lECT.    IV. 

down  regeneration  to  this.  It  may  also  be  a  matter 
of  wonder  to  some  that  a  Jewish  ruler  should  have 
heard  with  so  much  astonishment  that  pagans  must 
be  converted  to  the  revealed  faith.  But  let  that 
pass.  I  ask  whether  there  are  none  in  Christian 
countries  who  are  under  the  supreme  dominion  of 
selfishness^  none  with  an  historic  faith  who  serve 
"the  creature  more  than  the  Creator'?"  none  that  be- 
long to  the  Church  who  love  "the  praise  of  men 
more  than  the  praise  of  God?"  none  who  cover  even 
with  canonicals  a  heart  supremely  attached  to  the 
world?  If  these  you  find,  you  find  all  the  attributes 
of  "the  fleshly  mind"  within  the  pale  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Why  then  go  to  pagan  countries  to 
seek  "the  natural  man'?"  The  whole  population  of 
Christendom  are  enemies  of  God,  with  the  bare  ex- 
ception of  those  who  love  him  svpremely.  And  if  of 
all  that  population  none  love  him  hetier  than  life  till 
"the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  [their]  hearts  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,^^'^  then  none  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Christendom,  as  ihey  are  bo7-n  into  the  worlds  possess 
any  other  temper  than  that  of  God's  enemies. 

Thus  I  have  finished  what  was  proposed.  And 
now  may  we  not  all  find  sufficient  reason  to  lay  our 
hand  on  our  hearts?  We  may  often  have  seen  sin  in 
ourselves  without  knowing  it,  and  may  have  promo- 
ted the  deception  by  calling  it  by  another  name, 
and  while  restrained  from  actual  crimes,  we  may 
have  wondered  at  the  strong  charges  of  the  divine 
word  against  us.  But  if  every  nndue  bias  in  our  oivn 
javour  contains  in  itself  the  grand  principle  of  all  re- 
bellion against  God,  we  need  only  watch  our  hearts 
for  a  single  hour  to  find  reason  enough  to  exclaim 
with  distress  and  amazement,  "The  whole  head  is 
sick  and  the  whole  heart  faint!"  In  the  strong  work- 
ings of  this  polluted  principle  we  may  discover  the 
deep  and  dreadful  malignity  of  sinj  and  our  wonder 

*  Rom.  V,  5. 


LECT.  IV.]  OR    ENMITY.  87 

that  we  are  thus  charged  will  soon  yield  to  greater 
wonder  that  we  are  out  of  everlasting  despair. — 
What  reason  for  humility  and  self-loathing;  for 
shame  and  grief  and  tears. 

If  supreme  aiiachmejit  to  the  creature  is  itself  total 
depravity,  I  tremble  as  I  inquire  how  many  of  my 
hearers  are  still  totally  depraved.  Should  an  angel 
pass  from  seat  to  seat  with  a  commission  to  take  the 
account,  how  many  of  you  would  he  find  supremely 
attached  to  the  world?  how  many,  more  anxious  for 
the  success  of  their  commercial  pursuits  than  for  the 
interests  of  the  Church  and  the  glory  of  God.^  how 
many,  more  enamoured  of  amusements  than  prayer"? 
how  many,  more  eager  to  exalt  themselves  than  the 
Saviour  of  the  world.^  Precisely  that  number  he 
would  write  down  totally  depraved,  and  God  would 
approve  the  record. 

My  dear  hearers,  do  you  love  God']  Do  you  love 
the  God  that  made  and  redeemed  you, — the  God  of 
infinite  and  eternal  love, — the  treasure  and  glory  of 
the  universe?  All  heaven  is  full  of  exultation  and 
transport  that  such  a  God  exists,  and  do  you  love 
him?  Without  that  love  you  are  wretches  to  eter- 
nity in  whatever  world  you  dwell.  Without  that 
love  you  are  wretches  on  the  highest  throne  in  glory. 
You  are  pressed  with  infinite  obligations,  and  do 
you  love  that  God?  Let  the  question  reach  every 
part  of  the  house  and  ring  through  every  conscience, 
Do  you  love  the  ever-blessed  God9  Love  him!  we 
should  be  monsters  if  we  did  not  love  him.  Amen 
to  that, — but  do  you  really  love  him 9  Do  you  love 
him  better  than  father  or  mother,  wife  or  children,  houses 
or  lands,  or  life  itself]  That  we  cannot  say.  Then, 
my  dear  hearers,  you  have  not  a  particle  of  love  to 
God  in  your  hearts.  Nay  more, — how  shall  I  utter 
the  dreadful  charged  you  are  his  enemies.  Enemies 
of  God!  \n  what  world  am  L^  I  see  not  the  chains 
and  bars  around   me; — am  I  in  the  world   that  was 


88  SUPREME    LOVE    OR  ENMITY.  [lECT.    IV. 

once  wet  with  a  Saviour's  blood?  am  I  in  an  assem- 
bly of  people  for  whom  he  died?  Enemies  of  God! 
Why  what  evil  hath  he  donel^  If  you  are  resolved  to 
remain  his  foes  I  will  follow  you  with  this  moving 
entreaty  till  I  die,  Why  what  evil  hath  he  done']  Is 
it  for  the  love  that  gave  being  to  numberless  worlds, 
and  feeds  them  all  from  the  stores  of  his  bounty?  Is 
it  for  the  love  that  sent  his  only  Son  to  expire  on  a 
cross?  Is  it  for  the  compassion  that  cries  after  you 
from  year  to  year?  But  I  have  done.  When  it  shall 
be  told  another  day  that  redeemed  sinners  were  en- 
emies of  God, — I  had  almost  said,  all  heaven  will 
be  in  tears. 


LECTURE  V. 
REGENERATION  NOT  PROGRESSIVE. 


EZEKIEL  xi.  19. 


I  WILL  PUT  A  NEW  SPIRIT  AVITHIN  YOUJ  AND  I  AVILL  TAKE  THE 
STONY  HEART  OUT  OF  THEIR  FLESH,  AND  WILL  GIVE  THEM  A 
HEART   OF    FLESH. 


There  is  a  phenomenon  in  the  moral  world  for 
which  no-adequate  natural  cause  has  ever  yet  been 
assigned.  I  mean  a  great  and  sudden  change  of 
temper  and  character,  brought  about  under  a  strong 
impression  of  scriptural  truth;  a  change  in  many  ca- 
ses from  habitual  vice  and  malignity  to  the  sweet- 
ness and  purity  of  the  Christian  spirit,  and  continu- 
ing to  manifest  itself  in  a  new  character  through 
life,  accompanied,  if  you  will  believe  the  subjects, 
with  new  views  of  God  and  Christ  and  divine  things 
in  general,  and  with  new  feelings  towards  them. — 
This  change  is  discovered  in  people  of  all  tempera- 
ments; in  the  phlegmatic  as  well  as  the  ardent,  in 
the  slow  and  cautious  as  well  as  the  impetuous  and 
sanguine,  in  minds  wholly  subject  to  the  understan- 
ding as  well  as  those  which  yield  more  to  the  domin- 
ion of  the  imagination.  It  takes  place  in  people  of 
all  ranks  and  conditions;  in  the  wise  and  learned  as 


90  REGENERATION  [lECT.    V. 

well  as  the  simple  and  ignorant,  in  persons  insulated 
by  society  of  a  different  cast  and  strongly  prejudiced 
against  the  belief  of  such  a  change.  Thousands 
who  are  not  mad,  but  cool,  dispassionate,  and  wise, 
the  ornaments  of  society  and  of  learning,  whose 
word  would  be  taken  in  anv  other  case,  and  who 
certainly  ought  to  be  regarded  as  competent  judges, 
tell  you  that  they  have  had  opportunity  to  see  both 
sides,  as  the  revilers  of  this  doctrine  have  not;  that 
they  once  looked  upon  the  subject  with  the  eyes  of 
their  opponents,  but  have  since  seen  for  themselves, 
and  do  assuredly  know  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
a  spiritual  change  of  heart.  And  what  witnesses  can 
you  oppose  to  these?  Men  who  have  nothing  to  offer 
but  negative  testimony, — who  can  only  say,  they 
know  of  no  such  thing. 

To  this  interesting  change,  as  the  second  grand 
topic  of  the  course,  I  am  now  to  draw  your  attention. 
But  as  the  reasonings  on  this  point  will  be  founded 
on  truths  already  established,  it  is  necessary  to  lay 
these  truths  before  you  again  at  one  view.  It  has 
been  proved  that  holiness  radically  consists  in  uni- 
versal love,  which  fixes  the  heart  supremely  on  God; 
that  sin  has  its  root  in  affections  limited  to  a  private 
circle,  but  chiefly  in  selfishness,  including,  as  a  main 
part,  the  love  of  the  world;  that  every  man  makes 
either  God  or  himself  the  object  of  his  chief  regard; 
that  supreme  selfishness  necessarily  produces  enmity 
to  God,  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  every  better  affec- 
tion towards  him;  that  they  who  do  not  love  God  su- 
premely are  destitute  of  true  charity  to  man,  and 
altogether  without  holiness;  that  this  is  the  native 
character  of  all  who  are  born  into  the  world,  whether 
in  pagan  or  Christian  countries. 

Out  of  these  truths  arises  the  necessity  of  that 
moral  change  which  is  denominated  regeneration. 
The  reason  of  this  necessity  is  here  laid  open  to  the 
core,  and  proves  to  be  the  same  that  our  Saviour  as- 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  91 

signed  to  the  wondering  Nicodemiis.  He  had  as- 
tonished that  Jewish  ruler  with  the  solemn  assevera- 
tion, *'Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man 
be  born  ajxain  he  cannot  see  the  kin;rdom  of  God:" 
and  while  the  Jew  stood  doubting  and  amazed,  he 
added,  as  the  sole  ground  of  this  necessity,  "That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh;"*  in  other  words, 
that  which  is  born  by  natural  generation  is  "carnal," 
is  "enmity  against  God,"  and  must  be  born  again. 

These  truths  disclose  also  the  precise  nature  of 
the  change  which  is  necessary.  It  is  a  transition 
from  supreme  selfishness  to  universal  love, — from 
enmity  against  G  id  to  supreme  attachment  to  him. 
Of  course  it  must  be  the  greatest  change  that  ever 
takes  place  in  tlie  human  atfections. 

The  first  question  that  arises  on  the  subject  is 
ivJiether  regeneration  is  progressive  or  instantaneous. 
I  shall  attempt  lo  prove,  from  the  truths  already  es- 
tablished and  from  other  considerations,  that  it  must 
be  instantaneous.  It  is  not  necessary  however  to 
suppose  that  the  precise  time  is  always  known.  Con- 
ceive of  a  man  sitting  in  a  dun2:eon,  so  occupied  in 
thought  as  not  to  notice  the  change  which  is  grad- 
ually produced  by  a  light  approaching  at  a  distance. 
At  length  turning  his  eye  he  discerns  objects,  and 
perceives  that  light  has  been  admitted  into  the  room; 
but  when  it  began  to  enter  he  cannot  tell.  Still 
there  was  a  moment  when  the  first  ray  passed  the 
casement.  So  in  the  present  case,  the  evidence  of 
the  change  m^^y  be  earlier  or  later  in  its  appear- 
;  ance,  and  m  ire  or  less  rapid  in  its  developement,  but 
the  change  itself  is  always  instantaneous.  Is  not 
such  an  idea  more  than  implied  in  the  text?  What 
is  the  blessing^  promised?  Not  ihe  gradual  improve- 
ment of  an  old  temper,  but  "a  neiv  spirit;" — "the 
stony  heart"  not  softened  by  degrees  into  flesh,  but 
by  one  decisive  eff'ort  removed  and  a  heart  of  flesh 
substituted  in  its  room. 

*John  iii.  3.  6. 


92  REGENERATION  [lECT.    V.- 

You  are  told  by  some  that  no  other  change  is  ne- 
cessary   than    what   is    accomplished    by    reason, 
gradually    resuming  its  empire    over    the    appetites 
and  passions.     But  this    theory    entirely  overlooks 
the  enmity  of  heart  that  refuses  to  yield   to  reason. 
It  arrays  its  ethics  against  the  grosser  ebullitions  of 
sin,but  leaves  the  seat  of  the  disorder  untouched.  You 
are  told  by  others  that  through  the  influence  of  in- 
struction,   example,    one's   own    exertions,  and  the 
common  operations  of  the  Spirit,  the  enmity  is  grad- 
ually weakened  till  it  is  destroyed,  and  the  taste  of 
the  mind,  as  in  many  other  cases,  is  brought  over  by 
degrees  from  aversion  to  love.     But  does  not  this 
and  every  other  theory  which  recognises  the  princi- 
ple of  progressive  regeneration,  wholly  overlook  the 
nature  of  the  disease  and  the  real  ground  of  the  na- 
tive enmity?  The  disease  is  supreme  self-love;  the 
ground  of  enmity,  that  God  requires  upon  penalty  of 
eternal  death,  that  universal  love  which  will  fix  the 
heart  supremely  on  himself.     This  enmity  will  re- 
main and  exclude  every  particle  of  love  as  long  as 
self-love    is    supreme.     Now  self-love    will  remain 
supreme  till  the  chief  regard  is  transferred  to  anoth- 
er object.     But  in  the  universe  there  is  not  another 
object  to  receive  it  but  God  himself.     Self-love  then 
will  remain  supreme,  and  support  the  enmity  in  all 
its  vigour,  till  God  is  supremely  loved.     As  long  as 
the  sinner  loves  himself  chiefly  he  is  the  enemy  of 
God,  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  every  better  affection 
towards  him;   the  moment  he  ceases  to  love  himself 
supremely    his   highest   aflfection    centres   in    God. 
There  is   no   intermediate    space.       No    time    can 
elapse  between  the  last  moment  in  which  he  loves 
himself  supremely  and  the  first  moment  in  which  he 
does  not.  * 

You  talk  of  the  taste's  being  brought  over  by  a 
gradual  process  from  enmity  to  love;  but  can  you 
find  any  step  in  that  process  at  which  the  man  does 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  93 

not  either  love  the  world  better  than  God  or  God 
better  than  the  world?  If  he  loves  the  world  better 
than  God  he  has  made  no  progress  at  all;  for  "if  any 
man  love  the  world  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in 
him:"  and  if  no  love,  there  must  be  enmity:  "He 
that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me."  ^^Thc  friendship 
of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God;  whosoever  there- 
fore will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of 
God."  "Either  he  will  hate  the  one  and  love  the 
other,  or  else  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise 
the  other. "^  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  loves  God 
better  than  the  world,  regeneration  is  consummated, 
and  there  is  no  room  for  progress.  Either  then  he 
has  made  no  advance  or  the  work  is  complete.  In 
every  step  of  the  supposed  progress  he  is  either  an 
enemy  to  God  or  loves  him  supremely. 

Yielding  then  the  point  that  the  man  is  an  enemy 
to  God  till  the  change  is  complete,  it  may  yet  be 
asked,  is  not  that  enmity  gradually  weakened'?  It 
cannot  be  radically  weakened  till  its  cause  is  weak- 
ened, which  is  supreme  self-love,  (or  more  generally 
the  love  of  the  creature,  for  the  social  affections  too 
may  set  up  their  objects  in  opposition,)  struggling 
against  the  law  and  administration  of  God.  But 
the  love  of  the  creature,  (in  which  self-love  is  includ- 
ed,) cannot  be  weakened  before  the  love  of  God  is 
introduced.  What  is  there  to  weaken  it?  tf  the 
heart  is  taken  from  the  creature,  it  must  be  set  on 
another  object  or  be  annihilated.  But  there  is  no 
other  object  except  God  himself.  Before  the  love 
of  God  therefore  is  implanted  there  is  no  way  radi- 
cally to  weaken  the  enmity,  but  to  weaken  all  the 
affections  and  reduce  the  soul  nearer  to  a  state  of 
insensibility.  And  even  then  the  love  of  the  crea- 
ture, (the  sole  cause  of  the  hostility,)  would  exert  as 
absolute  a  dominion  as  before,  only  over  a  weaker 
subject.  Particular  lusts  may  be  absorbed  in  others, 

*  Mat.  vi.  24,  and  xii.  30.    James  iv.  4.     1  John  ii.  15. 

9 


94  REGENERATION  [lEGT.    V. 

but  the  current  of  sin  is  only  turned  into  new  chan- 
nels. The  passions  nnay  be  more  or  less  inflamed, 
and  thus  the  actings  o^  self-love  more  or  less  violent. 
By  this  means  one  may  sin  with  a  stronger  hand  than 
another  of  equal  capa(rity.  Again  the  passions  may 
be  allayed,  and  less  guilt  be  incurred  in  an  equal  time; 
but  the  supreme  love  of  the  creature,  which  is  the 
preparation  in  the  soul  for  the  future  rage  of  all 
these  passions,  cannot  be  abated,  (at  least  its  domin- 
ion catmot  be  reduced,)  but  by  that  heavenly  char- 
ity which  fixes  the  heart  supremely  on  God. 

But  you  ask,  may  not  new  light  thrown  upon  the 
conscience  convince  the  mind  of  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  its  opposition,  and  thus  soothe  and  allay  its 
enmity?  I  answer:  by  reasoning  you  may  compose 
the  passions  of  an  angry  man  without  at  all  chang- 
ing his  disposition.  After  you  have  succeeded  in 
calming  the  risings  of  enmity  against  God.  I  ask,  is 
the  dominion  of  the  limited  affections  in  the  least  abated? 
This  is  the  decisive  question:  for  supreme  attach- 
ment to  the  creature  comprehends  the  root  and 
essence  of  the  whole  disease.  Now  can  you  weaken 
the  love  of  the  creature  by  light?  Or  to  confine  the 
question  to  a  part  of  the  evil,  can  you  by  light  and 
conscience  weaken  the  power  of  selfishness?  Can 
you  reason  a  man  out  of  his  attachment  to  himself? 
Will  all  the  light  of  the  last  day  abate  in  the  least 
the  selfishness  of  the  wicked?  Will  not  light  and 
conscience  in  their  hio-hest  decrees  act  tonether  in 
the  regions  of  despair,  without  producing  any  other 
effect  than  rage  and  gnashing  of  teeth?  No  but  the 
living,  you  say,  possess  hope.  Hope!  and  can  you 
then  b7ibe  a  man  to  be  less  selfish?  What,  bribe  a 
man  to  hate  a  bribel  If  enmity  against  God  were  only 
a  prejudice  arising  from  a  misconception  of  his  true 
character,  it  might  indeed  be  removed  by  light.  In 
that  case  it  would  not  be  a  sin  but  a  virtue;  for  to 
hate  a  false  image  of  God,  in  other  words,  a  falsa 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  95 

God^  is  a  duty.     But  if  the  hpAirt   of  sinners   is  de- 
\  praved,  if  they  hate   the   true  character  of  God  in 
j  whatever  form  it  appears,  they  will  hate  it  the  more, 
I  the  more  it  is  seen,  and  light,  so   far   from  abating, 
will  only  rouse  the  enmity  to  stronger  action.     You 
may  convince    them  of  \\\q  justice  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration; (that  indeed  vvill  not  rouse  their  enmity;) 
but  while  they  love  their  own  interest  supremely, 
what  can   abate   their  hatred  of  a  law   which    says, 
Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  supremely  or  suf- 
fer eternal  pain?      Can  the   love  of  private  interest 
regard   more   favourably  the  destruction  of  that  in- 
terest because  the  destruction  is  just?    And  can  self- 
love  hold   dominion    and  actually  govern  the  heart, 
and  not  control  every  consideration  suggested   by 
conscience  to  oppose  its  power?  without  continuing 
to  array  the  whole  heart  against  the  absolute  destroyer 
of  self-in(erest9       In  a   word,  can   supreme  love  to 
one's  own  interest  radically  hate  either  more  or  less 
than  it  actually  does,  the  destruction  of  that  inter** 
est,   or  any   arrangement  for  its  destruction,   while 
the  capacity  of  the  soul  remains  the  same? 

But  you  say  again,  may  not  the  divine  Spirit,  be- 
fore the  love  of  God  is  implanted,  bring  the  mind 
to  a  better  frame  by  weakening  its  prejudices 
against  religion  and  exciting  reflections,  desires,  and 
resolutions  which  come  nearer  to  a  holy  character!* 
All  that  the  Spirit  does  before  regeneration,  I  sup- 
pose, is  to  pour  light  upon  the  mind;  thus  awakening 
remorse  of  conscience,  alarming  self-love,  and  occa- 
sioning various  and  strong  actings  of  this  principle. 
If  this  is  all  that  the  SpirUdoes  iiefore  regeneration, 
the  question  has  been  already  answered  in  what  was 
said  of  the  influence  of  light.  But  whatever  the 
Spirit  does  he  certainly  does  not  perform  impossi- 
bilities. If  in  the  nature  of  things  nothing  can 
weaken  the  enmity  that  does  not  first  dethrone  the 
love  of  the  creature,  and  if  nothing  can  dethrone 


96  REGENERATION  [lECT.    V. 

that  despot  but  the  love  of  God,  then  no  operation 
of  the  Spirit  which  does  not  introduce  the  love  of 
God  can  weaken  the  empire  of  depravity.  But  I 
have  another  thing  to  say.  The  feelings  of  the  con- 
victed are  holy  or  sinful  or  neither.  If  neither,  they 
have  no  moral  nature,  that  is,  are  deserving  neither 
of  praise  or  blame  from  the  moral  Governour  of  the 
world,  and  of  course  have  nothing  to  do  with  our 
subject.  If  they  are  sinful,  what  approaches,  I  pray, 
can  sin  make  to  holiness^  to  the  lowest  degree  of 
holiness?  What  approaches  can  total  darJcness  make 
to  the  lowest  degree  of  light'?  or  total  deachiess  to 
the  lowest  degree  of  life'?  AVill  you  say  then  that 
they  are  holy?  What,  holy  without  love  to  God! 
without  a  particle  of  that  "love"  which  "is  Xhe  ful- 
filling of  the  law,"  which  includes  the  whole  that 
the  law  requires!  What  says  the  apostle?  "Though 
I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and 
have  not  love,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass  or  a 
tinkling  cymbal.  And  though  I  have  the  gift  of 
prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries  and  all 
knowledge,  and  though  I  have  all  faith  so  that  I 
could  remove  mountains,  and  have  no  love^  I  am 
NOTHING.  And  though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed 
the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned, 
and  have  not  love,  it  profiteth  me  nothing."*  Will 
you  say  then  that  the  convicted  sinner  has  some  love 
to  God  though  it  is  not  supreme'?  What,  while  the 
enmity  remains?  while  the  enmity  prevaiW  for  pre- 
vail it  must  while  he  loves  himself  supremely, — pre- 
vail it  must  therefore  till  his  supreme  affection  is 
transferred  to  God.  But  once  for  all  let  an  apostle 
decide  whether  any  love  to  God  can  exist  while  the 
heart  is  supremely  attached  to  another:  "If  any 
man  love  the  world  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in 
^m."t 

^  Rom.  xiii.  10.    1  Cor.  xiii.  1—3.  \  1  John  ii.  15. 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  97 

In  every  view  then  it  appears  that  there  can  be 
no  approaches  towards  regeneration  in  the  ante- 
cedent temper  of  the  heart.  The  moment  before 
the  change  the  sinner  is  as  far  from  sanctification  as 
darkness  is  from  light,  as  death  is  from  life,  as  sin  is 
from  holiness.  Admitting  that  his  passions  are 
somewhat  allayed,  and  the  actings  of  self-love  not 
equally  violent,  (a  concession  by  no  means  to  be 
made,  certainly  not  in  every  case,  considering  the 
strong  light  in  which  he  views  the  objects  of  his 
aversion  and  dread,)  still  the  least  action  of  enmity 
to  God  is  as  far  removed  from  the  lowest  degree  of 
holiness,  as  an  object  which  God  infinitely  hates  {rom 
an  object  which  he  infinitely  loves, — as  far  as  a  thing 
which  deserves  everlasting  shame  and  contempt, 
from  a  grace  that  will  receive  endless  and  incon- 
ceivable rewards.  And  the  two  can  never  be  brought 
nearer  tosjether. 

I  have  now  finished  one  train  of  reasoning  and 
will  enter  on  another.  I  prove  that  regeneration  is 
instantaneous  from  the  established  truth  that  man- 
kind by  nature  are  destitute  of  holiness.  Regen- 
eration is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  commence- 
ment of  holiness  in  the  soul, — the  increase  of  that 
principle  bekig  not  regeneration  but  sanctification. 
If  the  soul  is  wholly  destitute  of  holiness  there  must 
be  a  moment  when  it  first  receives  that  principle, 
provided  the  principle  itself  is  specifically  different 
from  any  thing  preexisting  in  the  mind,  and  is  not  a 
compound  gradually  formed  out  of  the  natural  aflfec- 
tions.  Even  in  that  case  there  would  be  a  moment 
when  by  increase,  or  by  a  perfect  process  of  combination, 
it  would  first  become  entitled  to  the  name  of  holi- 
ness. But  not  to  insist  on  that,  it  is  very  apparent 
from  what  has  been  said  of  the  nature  of  holi- 
ness, that  however  multitudinous  it  may  be  in  its 
operations  and  eflfects,  it  is  not  a  compound,  but  a 
property  no  less  simple  in  its  essence  than  universal 

*9 


98  REGENERATION  [lECT.    V» 

love,  and  that  it  is  as  specifically  different  from  any" 
thing  preexisting  in  the  mind,  as  parental  affection 
is  from  humanity,  or  the  love   of  science   from  thcj 
love  of  food.      A   property   so  simple  and   distinctj 
from  all  others,  may  be  reasoned  upon  with  as  much 
precision  as  any  of  the  elementary  substances  of  the 
chemist.     Now  the  production  of  a  new  and  simple 
property,  like  the  power  of  attraction  first  commu- 
nicated to  a  repellent  body,  must  be  instantaneous. 
The  beginning  of  a  thing,  one  would   think,  cannot 
be  progressive. 

This  idea  may  be  further   illustrated  by  a  recur- 
rence   to   some    of   the   images   under   which  this 
change  is  represented.     It  is  set  forth  by  the  figure 
of  light  struck  out  in  the  midst  of  total  darkness: 
"God  who  commanded   the   light  to   shine  out  of 
darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ."      It  is   called  the  opening   of  blind 
eyes,  and  the  unstopping  of  deaf  ears.      It  is  called 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead:  "You  hath  he  quic- 
ened  who  were  dead  in  trespasses   and  sins."     It  is 
called  a  new  creation:     "If  any  man  be  in  Christ  he 
is  anew  creature."     "We  are  his  workmanship  cre- 
ated in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."    "Put  on  the 
new  man,  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness."     It  is  called  the  removal  of 
a  heart  of  stone  and  introduction  of  a  heart  of  flesh. 
It  is  called  a  new  birth.*      Now  all  these  figures 
import  an  instantaneous  change.      There  is  a  mo- 
ment when  the   first  ray  of  light  enters  a  region  of 
total  darkness.      There  is  a  moment  when  the  blind 
man  begins  to  see.      There  is  a  moment  when  the 
deaf  man  hears  the  first  sound.     There  is  a  moment 
when  life  begins  to  animate  a  dead  body.     The  cre- 

*  Ps.  cxlvi.  8.  Isai.  xxix.  18.  and  xxxv.  5.  and  xlii.  16 — 19.  and  xllii.  8. 
Ezek.  xi.  19.  Luke  iv.  18.  John  iii.  3.  2  Cor .  iv.  <3.  and  v.  17.  Eph.  ii. 
1,  10.  and  iv.  24.    2  Pel.  i.  9.    Rev.  iii.  17. 


LECT.  v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  99 

fition  of  a  simple  substance  must  be  instantaneous. 
The  formation  of  the  various  objects  that  were  to 
compose  a  worlds  admitted  of  successive  acts;  and 
to  this  is  analogous  the  new  creation  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  elect  in  successive  generations:  but 
when  a  simple  substance  was  to  be  produced,  "God 
said,  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light. "^  The 
removal  of  a  heart  of  stone  and  substitution  of  a 
heart  of  tiesh,  must  likewise  be  instantaneous,  or 
accordino-  to  the  fiofure  there  is  a  time  when  either 
there  are  two  hearts  or  no  heart  at  all.  And  in  re- 
gard to  a  birth,  there  is  a  moment  in  every  case  in 
whicli  it  may  be  first  said,  a  child  is  born  into  the 
world. 

Regeneration  has  sometimes  been  compared  to 
the  struggle  of  light  with  darkness  and  the  gradual 
prevalence  of  the  former  at  the  dawn  of  day.  But 
what  do  they  mean  by  lights  If  they  mean  hoUnesSf 
they  assume  what  has  been  proved  to  be  false,  that 
there  is  holiness  in  the  heart  before  the  completion 
of  regeneration.  Show  me  a  man  in  whom  holiness 
and  sin  are  struo^orjinfr  for  dominion,  and  I  will  show 
you  one  who  is  already  born  again.  But  if  they 
mean  any  thing  besides  holiness,  any  thing  besides  the 
identical  principle  whose  prevalence  is  to  constitute  the 
change,  the  change  itself  bears  no  resemblance  to 
the  progress  of  the  morning, — the  progress  of  the 
same  light  that  makes  the  day.  It  might  more  fitly 
be  compared  to  the  first  ray  that  strikes  the  eastern 
horizon,  or  rather  to  the  first  ray  that  enters  a  region 
of  ^oto/ daikness.  And  between  the  last  moment  of 
total  darkness  and  the  first  moment  of  commencing 
light,  no  time  can  elapse.  But  if  by  light  in  this 
comparison  is  meant  speculative  knowledge,  and 
this  was  even  allowed  to  be  the  cause  of  regeneration, 
still  the  change  could  not  be  progressive   if  any 

*  Gen.  i.  3. 


100  REGENERATION  [lECT.    V. 

thing  more  than  ignorance,  if  moral  depravity  is  to 
be  removed.  No  matter  by  what  means  the  change 
is  accomplished,  if  it  is  a  transition  from  supreme 
selfishness  to  the  supreme  love  of  God,  it  must 
be  instantaneous  according  to  the  reasonings  al- 
ready had. 

It  affords  much  support  to  these  reasonings  that 
the  Scriptures  divide  the  whole  human  race  into  two 
classes, — saints  and  sinners,  the  good  and  the  bad, 
believers  and  unbelievers,  natural  men  and  spiritual 
men,  those  who  are  in  Christ  and  those  who  are  out, 
they  who  are  still  under  condemnation  and  they  who 
are"^  justified,  the  heirs  of  heaven  and  the  heirs  of 
hell.  There  is  not  a  third  class.  "He  that  is  not 
with  me  is  against  me."^  It  follows  that  every  man, 
at  every  moment  of  his  life,  belongs  to  one  or  the 
other  of  these  two  classes.  Then  he  belongs  to  one 
till  the  moment  he  enters  the  other.  Were  it  other- 
wise there  would  be  a  time  in  w^iich  he  is  neither 
good  nor  bad,  neither  in  Christ  nor  out,  neither  con- 
demned nor  justified,  neither  an  heir  of  heaven  nor 
an  heir  of  hell.  What  is  he  then.^  To  whom  does 
he  belong?  Whither  would  he  go  should  he  die.^ 
Is  there  a  purgatory'? 

I  might  add  to  tliese  reasonings  that  regeneration 
is  represented  to  be  a  great  exhibition  of  power, — 
as  great  as  the  resurrection  of  Christ:  '-The  eyes  of 
your  understanding  being  enlightened,  that  ye  may 
I^now — what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to 
US-ward  who  believe,  according  to  the  working  of 
his  mighty  power  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when 
he  raised  him  from  the  dead  and  set  him  at  his  own 
right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places."f  This  certainly 
favours  the  idea  at  least  of  a  sudden  change.  Divine 
power  is  doubtless  as  much  exerted  in  the  gradual 
motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  in  the  slow 
process  of  vegetation,  as  it  was  in  stopping  the  sun 

*  Mat.  xii  .30.  t  Eph.  i.  18—20. 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  101 

over  Gibeon;  but  when  men  are  summoned  to  wit- 
ness a  great  exhibition  of  power,  they  naturally  look 
for  a  sudden  eftect,  as  the  burst  of  a  volcano  or  the 
sweep  of  a  whirlwind.  But  if  instead  of  one  grand 
effort  regeneration  is  brought  about  by  a  lingering 
influence,  especially  if  it  is  produced  by  the  slow 
operation  of  reasori  and  knowledge,  it  is  no  more  an 
exhibition  of  power  than  the  growth  of  a  plant  or 
the  alteration  of  any  of  our  tastes. 

But  after  all  the  question  chiefly  turns  on  these 
two  points. — the  supreme  selfishness  or  total  deprav- 
ity of  the  human  heart,  and  the  nature  of  holiness. 
No  one  who  admits  this  view  of  the  native  character, 
and  believes  that  holiness  is  a  simple  principle,  not 
a  compound  formed  out  of  pre-existing  properties, 
can  doubt  that  there  is  a  moment  when  it  is  flrst  in- 
troduced. What  is  the  charade?^  of  the  natural  heartl- 
and  what  is  holiness^  are  the  two  questions  which  on 
this  subject  must  divide  the  world.  For  if  holiness 
is  a  simple  principle,  and  first  introduced  in  regen- 
eration, especially  if  it  is  a  principle  of  supreme 
love  to  God,  following  supreme  selfishness,  nothing 
can  be  plainer  than  that  the  change  is  as  sudden  as 
the  entrance  of  the  first  drop  that  falls  into  a  vessel 
or  the  first  ray  tliat  penetrates  a  dungeon. 

This  doctrine  however  does  not  militate  against 
the  idea  of  an  antecedent  preparation  in  the  con- 
science, wrought  by  the  means  of  grace  and  the 
enlio^htenino:  influences  of  the  Spirit.  But  on  this 
subject  I  shall  have  occasion  to  treat  m  a  future 
lecture.  At  present  I  shall  content  myself  with  two 
inferences  from  the  doctrine  already  established. 

(I.)  It  inevitably  follows  from  the  foregoing  ex- 
position that  none  of  the  feelings  or  actions  or  du- 
ties, (as  they  are  called,)  of  the  unregenerate,  so 
far  as  they  partake  of  a  moral  nature,  that  is,  so  far 
as  they  are  entitled  to  praise  or  blame  from  the 
moral  Governour  of  the   world,  are  otherwise   than 


102  REGENERATION  [lECT.    V. 

sinful.  They  are  sinful  or  holy  or  neither.  If  nei- 
ther, they  receive  no  praise  or  blame  from  the  moral 
Governour.  For  whatever  may  be  said  of  God  in 
the  character  of  temporal  head  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
or  as  accommodating  in  these  days  his  visible 
dispensations  to  visible  characters,  yet  as  moral  Gov- 
ernour he  praises  nothing  but  holiness,  or  real  con- 
formity to  his  law,  and  blames  nothing  but  sin,  which 
*'is  the  transgression  of  the  law."  For  to  govern 
ACCORDING  TO  LAW  cuters  iuto  all  our  ideas  of  a 
righteous  governour.  That  some  of  the  feelings 
and  actions  of  the  unregenerate  are  of  a  neutral 
character  is  not  denied,  but  these  are  to  be  set  aside 
as  of  no  account.  The  rest  are  eilher  sinful  or  holy. 
But  they  are  not  holy,  for  the  beginning  o^  holiness 
is  regeneration:  they  must  of  course  be  sinful. 

It  is  a  credit  not  denied  to  the  unregenerate  that 
the/orm  of  their  actions  is  often  right;  and  if  the 
form  by  itself  can  be  supposed  to  be  respected  in  the 
divine  law,  it  is  as  far  as  it  goes  real  obedience. 
But  is  the  form  so  divided  by  the  divine  law  from 
the  disposition,  that  standing  alone  it  constitutes  any 
part  of  obedience?  If  so  the  form  without  the  dis- 
position must  constitute  some  part  of  transgression; 
and  then,  in  the  eye  of  the  divine  law,  a  man  in  part 
commits  murder  who  kills  his  neighbour  by  accident, 
or  in  a  paroxysm  of  madness.  The  truth  is  that  no 
action  is  rewarded  or  punished  by  God  or  man,  (un- 
less by  God  accommodating  his  visible  dispensations 
to  the  apprehensions  of  mankind,)  otherwise  than  as 
it  is  known  or  supposed  to  be  the  index  of  the  heart. 
Separate  from  murder  all  ideas  of  malicious  intent, 
and  it  is  no  longer  murder  in  the  eyes  of  God  or 
man.  Separate  from  prayer  all  ideas  of  pious  feel- 
ing, and  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  man  it  is  no  longer 
prayer.  No  law  human  or  divine  ever  thought  of 
forbidding  a  mad  man  to  kill  his  neighbour;  (no 
matter  for  what  reason.)      No  law  human  or  divine 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  103 

ever  thought  of  requiring  a  mad  man  to  perform 
deeds  of  charity.  It  is  then  <ifact  that  no  law  ever 
forbade  or  required  an  external  action  hut  as  an  ex- 
pj^ess  ion  of  mind,  of  choice,  of  disposition.  The  external 
action,  in  its  naked  form,  separate  from  the  choice 
and  disposition,  is  not  required,  and  the  action  thus 
alone  is  no  part  of  obedience,  no  part  of  holiness. 
But  if  any  thing  in  the  mind  is  necessary  to  impart  a 
holy  character  to  an  action,  it  must  be  holiness  in 
the,  mind.  For  certainly  nothing  but  the  thing  itself 
can  instamp  its  own  character.  Where  therefore 
there  is  no  holiness  in  the  heart,  there  can  be,  in  the 
view  of  him  who  tries  the  reins,  no  holy  action. 

But  while  I  neglect  to  ascribe  holiness,  I  do  not 
mean  to  impute  sin,  to  the  bare  form  of  actions.  In 
strictness  of  speech  the  form  distinct  from  the  mind 
no  more  partaki^s  of  a  moral  nature  tlian  the  motions 
of  a  clock.  All  that  I  affirm  of  the  sinfulness  of 
the  actions  of  the  unregenerate  is,  that  so  far  as 
those  actions  considered  in  botli  the  outward  and 
inward  part,  partake  of  a  moral  nature,  they  are 
sinful,  and  that  whether  the  external  form  is  right 
or  wrong.  In  strictness  of  speech  the  sin  lies  not 
in  the  outward  form,  even  when  that  form  is  wrong, 
certainly  not  when  it  is  right.  Yet  in  the  popular 
language  of  Scripture,  as  in  the  common  language 
of  mankind,  the  form  and  disposition  are  both  com- 
prehended in  the  action.  Now  wliat  I  assert  is,  that 
the  action,  thus  complexly  considered,  takes  its 
moral  character,  not  from  the  form,  but  from  the 
disposition;  and  where  the  disposition  is  wrong  the 
general  action  is  pronounced  sinful.  "The  Lord 
seeth  not  as  man  seeth;  for  man  looketh  on  the  out- 
ward appearance,  but  the  Lord  looketh  on  the  heart." 
He  affectionately  approves  of  the  widow's  mite, 
while  he  rejects  tlie  man  who  without  evangelical 
love  bestows  all  his  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and 
then  with    a  martyr's   zeal   gives    his  body    to  be 


104  REGENERATION  [lECT. 

burned.  He  accepts  "the  willing  mind"  even  where 
no  action  follows,  while  he  pronounces  the  very 
"sacrifice  of  the  wicked — an  abomination."  While 
"a  cup  of  cold  water,"  administered  in  love,  is  re- 
warded with  eternal  life,  "he  that  turneth  away  his 
ear  from  hearing  the  law,  even  his  prayer  [is]  abom- 
ination;" and  tkat  not  merely  when  he  intends  to 
mock:  "The  sacrifice  of  the  wicked  is  abomination, 
how  much  more  ivhen  he  hrimfeth  it  ivith  a  wicked  mind.^^ 
Nor  let  it  be  supposed  that  his  sacrifices  are  singled 
out  to  bear  this  reproach.  "The  plowing  of  the 
wicked  is  sin."  His  commonest  actions  are  an 
offence  to  God,  because  they  proceed  from  a  heart 
"deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked." 
You  must  cleanse  the  fountain  before  the  streams 
can  be  sweet;  you  must  heal  the  tree  before  the 
fruit  can  be  pleasant.  "Make  the  tree  good  and  his 
fruit  good."  "Cleanse  first  that  which  is  within  the 
cup  and  platter,  that  the  outside  of  them  may  be 
clean  also."  Hence  those  maxims  inscribed  on  the 
tablet  of  everlasting  truth,  "They  that  are  in  the 
flesh,  [in  their  natural  state,]  cannot  please  God;" 
and,  "Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him." 
Without  that  "fl^ith"  which  "is  the  gift  of  God,"— 
that  belief  that  "Jesus  is  the  Christ"  which  bespeaks 
one  "born  of  God," — no  action,  no  prayer  is  accept- 
ed. "If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom  let  him  ask  of 
God; — but  let  him  ask  in  faith ^  nothing  wavering; 
for  he  that  w^avereth  is  like  a  wave  of  the  sea: — -for 
let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall  receive  any  thing  of 
the  Lord.''^  "Ye  ask  and  receive  not  because  ye  ask 
amiss,"  is  the  common  reproof  administered  to  all 
who  are  supremely  attached  to  tho  'present  woiid, 
"We  know  that  God  heareth  not  sinners,"  was  a  pro- 
fession of  knowledge  made  even  by  the  Jews.* 

*  1  Sam.  xvi.  7.  Prov.  xv.  8.  and  xxi.  4,  27.  and  xxviii.  9.  Jer.  xvii, 
9.  Mat.  x.  42.  andxii.  33.  andxxiii.26.  Mark  xii.  42— 44.  John  ix.  31. 
Rom.  viii.  8.  1  Cor.  xiii.  1—3.  2  Cor.  viii.  12.  Eph.  ii.  8.  Heb.  xi.  6. 
James  i.  5 — 7.  and  iv.  3.     1  John  v.  1. 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  105 

The  case  is  not  altered  by  any  convictions  which 
may  be  excited  by  the  Spirit,  by  any  anxieties  of 
the  sinner,  by  any  of  his  attentions  to  the  means  of 
grace.  If  regeneration  is  the  commencement  of  holi- 
ness, all  the  feelings  and  actions  to  that  moment  so 
far  as  they  partake  of  a  moral  nature,  must  be  sin- 
ful. So  far  as  the  moral  governor  is  at  all  affected, 
he  is  only  disgusted  and  offended  till  the  very  mo- 
ment of  the  change. 

(2.)  It  follows  from  this  view  that  the  unregen- 
erate,  even  under  their  highest  convictions,  and  how- 
ever near  they  may  have  approached  to  the  time  of 
their  conversion,  still  lie  at  the  uncovenanted  mercy 
of  God.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  that  no  promises 
are  held  out  to  them  on  condition  of  their  return;  I 
only  mean  that  nothing  which  they  now  do  has  the 
promise  of  any  reward  or  notice  from  God.  The 
moral  Governour  of  the  world  cannot  pledge  himself 
to  reward  sinful  actions,  nor  actions  barely  neutral. 
A  temporal  king  may  consistently  engage  to  recom- 
pense actions  which  have  only  a  fair  exterior;  but 
for  God  to  do  this  would  be  to  relinquish  his  right  to 
search  the  heart.  While  acting  as  temporal  head  of 
the  Jewish  nation,  (an  office  however  which  he 
never  for  a  moment  stood  bound  by  promise  to  dis- 
charge, but  occasionally  assumed  in  sovereign  con- 
decension  to  the  weaknesses  of  the  people,)  he  visi- 
bly rewarded  actions  which  were  good  only  in  the 
sight  of  men;  (and  to  present  to  the  eye  a  continu- 
ed picture  of  himself  in  his  providence,  he  does  the 
same  now;)  but  he  nevev  promised  that  nation  a  sheaf 
of  barley  nor  a  hin  of  oil,  but  on  condition  of  sin- 
cere and  holy  obedience.  The  following  passage 
reveals  the  sole  condition,  (unless  you  profanely  sup- 
pose two  conditions,  like  the  two  prices  of  the  petty 
merchant,)  on  which  all  temporal  blessings  were 
promised  that  people:  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
if  you  shall  hearken  diligently  unto  my  command- 
ments which  I  command  you  this  day,  to  love  the 
10 


106  REGENERATION  [leCT.    \ 

LORD  YOUR  GOD,  and  to   serve    him    with   all  youi 

HEART  AND  WITH  ALL  YOUR  SOUL,  that  I   will  glVe  yOl 

the  rain  of  your  land  in  his  due  season,  the  first  rail 
and  the  latter  rain,  that  thou  mayest  gather  in  thj 
corn  and  thy  wine  and  thine  oil."^  Indeed  the  dut; 
o^  love  to  God  and  man  made  so  conspicuous  a  fig 
ure  in  the  Mosaic  code,f  that  this  condition  wa: 
necessarily  implied  in  all  the  promises  suspendec 
on  general  obedience.'l  The  sum  of  that  code  wa5 
this  :  "And  now,  Israel,  ivhat  doth  the  Lord  thy  Got 
require  of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  wall 
in  all  his  ways,  and  to  love  him,  and  to  serve  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul.'' 
"Thou  shalt  not  hate  thy  brother  in  thine  heart,— 
but  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself  "|| 

There  is  another  insuperable  difficulty  in  the  wa} 
of  extending  the  promises  to  the  unregenerate;  the} 
are  not  united  to  Christ.  Tiie  great  bond  of  union 
h  faith;  but  "whosoever  believeth — is  born  of  God.'' 
"If  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature^- 
Now  it  is  obvious  that  none  can  partake  of  the  prom- 
ises but  they  v/ho  are  united  to  Christ;  for  like  th( 
oil  on  Aaron's  head  that  descended  to  the  skirts  oj 
his  garments,  the  promises  are  all  poured  upon 
Christ,  and  descend  to  his  members  only.  "Tc 
Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  promises  made;  lie 
saith  not,  and  to  seeds,  as  of  many,  but  as  of  one,  and 
to  thy  seed,  ivhich  is  Christ f''  "that  the  blessing  o 
Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gentiles  through  Jesm 
Christ,  that  we  might  receive  the  promise  of  th( 
Spirit  through  falth;-^  "that  the  Gentiles  should  h^— 
partakers  of  his /?romj*A^e  z?i  Christ.''''  ^^Jlll  the  prom- 
ises of  God  in  him  are  yea  and  in  him  amen," — ever 
in  him  who  was  given  "for  ^covenant  of  the  people." 
"The  Scripture   hath  concluded  all  under  sin  thai 

*  Deut.  xi.  13—15. 

t  Deut.  vi.  5,  6.  and  vii.  9.  and  x.  16, 19.  and  xi.    1,  13;  22.   and  xiii.  3 
and  xix.  9.  and  XXX.  2,  6,  16,20.     Josh,  xxii.5.  and  xxiii.    11. 
X  Deut.  vi.  and  xi.  and  xxviii.  and  xxx. 
11  Lev.  xix.  17,  18.     Deut.  x.  12. 


LECT.    v.]  NOT    PROGRESSIVE.  107 

!  -^ 

the  promise  hy  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to 
them  that  believe.'''"^  How  then  can  any  promise 
reach  those  who  are  out  of  Christ?  The  promise 
chiefly  contended  for  is  one  that  is  supposed  to  en- 
sure to  the  unregenerate  an  ansvver  to  their  prayers. 
But  if  such  prayers  are  answered  it  must  be  ivithout 
the  influence  of  Christ;  of  course  they  might  have 
been  answered  if  Christ  had  never  died.  Why  then 
did  he  die?f  \^  one  prayer  of  a  sinner  could  ascend 
to  God  without  going  through  Christ,  a  ivhole  soul 
might;  and  if  one  soul  might,  a  whole  world  might. 
If  in  one  act  a  sinner  is  accepted  without  a  Saviour, 
ho  may  be  so  accepted  in  his  general  character;  and 
if  one  may  a  luhole  woj'ld  may.  Why  then  was  a  Sa- 
viour provided?  But  far  be  such  a  thought  from  us. 
Infinite  purity  cannot  commune  with  pollution  in 
a  single  instance,  nor  look  upon  a  sinner  but  through 
a  Mediator.  What  mean  you  to  contend  for  the 
privilege  of  going  to  God  without  a  Mediator?  for 
the  privilege  of  rushing  into  a  consuming  fire?  for 

*  Isai.  xlii.  6.  2  Cor.  i.  20.  and  v.  17.  Gal.  ili.  14.  16,  22.  Eph.  iii.  G. 
1  John  V.  1. 

f  But  the  unregenerate,  it  may  be  said,  do  receive  numberless  blessings 
on  Cfu-ist^s  account,  that  is,  in  consequence  of  his  having  undertaken  tlie 
work  of  redemption.  Every  favour  which  raises  them  al)ovo  the  condi- 
tion of  the  damned,  comes  lo  them  in  this  way.  Granted.  13ut  there  is 
a  material  difference  between  blessings  bestowed  in  sov ereign  mercy ,  (that 
is,  without  any  covenant  obligations,)  merely  to  put  them  in  possession  of 
the  full  advantages  of  probation,  and  containing  no  expressions  of  apprO' 
bation  but  only  of  patience,  and  blessings  confeired  as  a  reicard,  a  prom- 
ised reward,  and  expressive  of  the  approbation  of  God.  Though  in  sove- 
reign mercy  God  may  deal  more  favourably  with  sinners  than  if  no  chance 
existed  for  their  salvation,  he  cannot  approve  of  an  unholy  work  even  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  cannot,  in  his  secret  transactions  with  the  soul,  express 
that  approbation  by  a  reward.  For  Christ's  sake  he  may  accept  a  holy 
action,  which  otherwise  could  not  be  accepted  from  a  sinner,  that  is,  could 
not  be  rewarded  with  any  token  of  favour;  but  to  accept  nnholiness  on 
Christ's  account,  is  no  part  of  the  Gospel  plan.  It  is  no  part  of  that  plan 
to  accept  an  act  of  a  sinner  on  Christ's  account  without  his  oicn  consent 
that  Christ  should  be  the  ground  of  acceptance,  in  other  words,  without 
his  own  faith.  If  then  the  prayers  of  those  who  are  not  united  to  Christ  by 
faith  are  approved,  accepted,  answered,  rewarded,  (for  all  these  terms  are 
applicable  if  one  is.)  it  is  not  done  on  Christ's  account.  If  such  prayers 
reach  the  throne  of  God  they  do  not  ascend  through  a  Mediator. 


108  REGENERATION.  [lECT.    V. 

the  privilege  of  being  pagatis?  Presume  that  a 
prayer  may  reach  the  mercy  seat  without  going 
through  Christ! — if  this  is  not  self-righteousness^  ex- 
punge the  word  from  the  language.  Further,  a 
promise  implies  a  reward.  Now  if  the  unregenerate 
are  rewarded  they  are  rewarded  before  they  are  par- 
doned. They  receive  tokens  of  favour  while  they 
remain  objects  of  wrath.  And  for  what  are  they 
rewarded?  Not  for  the  merits  of  Christ,  (for  they 
have  no  part  in  him.)  but  for  their  own  works, — 
works  too  which  if  not  indifferent  are  positively  sin- 
ful. This  is  "confusion  worse  confounded."  But 
charge  not  this  confusion  upon  the  Bible.  From 
Genesis  to  Revelation  not  a  promise  of  such  a  na- 
ture is  found.  "Ask  and  ye  shall  receive,"  is  in- 
deed said  to  all;  but  when  you  would  know  the 
meaning  of  that  condition,  the  answer  is,  "ask  in 
FAITH,  NOTHING  WAVERING."  It  is  Said  iudccd  that 
"the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence  and  the 
violent  take  it  by  force;"  but  if  you  have  yet  to  learn 
what  sort  of  violence  is  meant,  even  an  Old  Testa- 
ment saint  can  tell  you:  "My  son,  if  thou  wilt  re- 
ceive my  words  and  hide  my  commandments  with 
thee,  so  that  thou  incline  thine  ear  unto  wisdom  and 
apply  thine  heart  to  understanding;  yea  if  thou  criest 
after  knowledge,  and  liftest  up  thy  voice  for  understand- 
ing; if  thou  seekest  her  as  silver,  and  searchest  for 
her  as  for  hid  treasures;  then  shalt  thou  understand 
the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  find  the  knowledge  of  God." 
In  short  all  the  promises  addressed  to  the  unregener- 
ate are  summed  up  in  either  of  the  following  texts: 
"Ye  shall  seek  me  and  find  me  ivhen  ye  shall  search 
for  me  with  all  your  heart."  "If — thou  shalt  seek 
the  Lord  thy  God  thou  shalt  find  him  if  thou  seek 
him    with     all    thy    heart    and    with    all    thy 

SOUL."^ 

*  Deut.  iv.  29.     Prov,  ii.  1—5,    Jer.  xxix.  13.     Mat.  xi.  12.      John  xvi. 
?A,    James  i.  6, 


LECTURE    VI. 


REGENERATION  SUPERNATURAL, 


PSALM  ex.  3. 

THY  PEOPLE  SHALL  BE  WILLING  IN  THE  DAY  OF  THY  POWER. 

This  promise  to  Christ  respecting  his  future 
kingdom  is  very  emphatic.  It  can  scarcely  be  tor- 
tured into  any  other  meaning  than  that  his  power 
should  be  effectually  exerted  to  render  his  people 
willing  to  submit  to  his  empire;  not  indirectly  by 
presenting  to  their  view  his  miracles  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  enemies,  and  leaving  the  event  to  the 
casual  operation  of  their  self-deteimining  power, 
but  by  a  conquest  of  their  wills  or  hearts  through  the 
efficacious  influence  of  his  Spirit. 

In  the  last  lecture  it  was  proved  that  regeneration 
is  an  instantaneous  change,  from  exclusive  attach- 
ment to  the  creature,  from  supreme  selfishness,  from 
enmity  against  God,  to  universal  love  which  fixes  the 
heart  supremely  on  him;  that  there  is  no  previous 
abatement  of  the  enmity  or  approximation  towards 
a  right  temper,  the  heart  being  at  one  moment  in 
full  possession  of  its  native  selfishness  and  opposi- 
tion, at  the  next  moment  in  possession  of  a  principle 
of  supreme  love  to  God, — acquiring  thus  in  an  in- 
*10 


110  REGENERATION  [lECT.    VI. 

slant  a  temper  which  it  never  possessed  before. 
Here  is  a  phenomenon  wholly  unlike  any  other  rev- 
olution in  the  moral  or  social  world.  How  is  it  to 
be  accounted  for?  Is  it  produced  by  the  self-deter- 
mining power  of  the  human  will,  or  by  the  power 
of  God?  If  by  God,  is  it  brought  about  according 
to  the  stated  operations  of  nature,  or  in  a  supernat- 
ural way?  If  in  a  supernatural  way,  is  it  done  on 
account  of  any  thing  previously  performed  by  the 
sinner,  or  in  any  sense  by  his  co-operation?  These 
three  questions  will  form  the  plan  of  the  present  lec- 
ture. 

I.  Is  this  change  produced  by  the  self-determin- 
ing power  of  the  human  will,  or  by  the  power  of 
God?  Not  by  the  self-determining  power  of  the 
will  or  heart,  {both  are  included  in  the  term  as  here 
used,)  for  the  very  last  act  of  the  will  or  heart  before 
the  change  was  entirely  hostile  to  God,  and  the  first 
right  act  evinces  the  change  to  be  past.  The  will 
was  an  enemy  in  the  last  act  before  the  act  of  love. 
Does  then  the  foe  instantly  create  the  friend^  Does 
an  effort  of  enmity  instantly  produce  love?  When- 
ever did  darkness  create  light,  or  death  life?  Is  it 
credible  that  the  will,  while  fully  opposed  to  God, 
should  contrive  and  accomplish  so  holy  and  so  vast 
a  change  in  a  moment?  None  will  pretend  it.  No 
man  in  his  senses  ever  pleaded  for  the  self-determin- 
ing power  who  allowed  the  change  to  be  so  sudden 
and  so  great. ^  But  I  ask  again,  what  could  possi- 
bly have  induced  the  will  all  at  once  to  make  so  great 
and  new  an  effort']  Motives?  But  the  same  motives 
had  been  resisted  for  years,  and  were  firmly  re- 
sisted in  the  very  last  act  before  the  change.  Now 
that  the  will  should  steadily  resist  all  motives  from 

*  The  author  believes  that  no  act  of  the  will,  whether  hostile  or  not, 
produces  a  subsequent  actj  but  to  adapt  his  argximent  to  those  of  a  diflcr- 
ent  opinion,  he  urges  the  hostile  state  of  the  will  just  before  regeneration: 
for  if  it  act  at  all  in  a  casual  way,  it  is  rational  to  suppose  that  it  will  act 
according  to  its  present  temper. 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  Ill 

the  beginning,  and  all  at  once  yield  in  an  instant, 
without  any  new  inducement,  without  any  previous 
consent  of  its  own; — that  love  should  start  up  out  of 
enmity  in  a  moment,  uncaused  but  by  itself,  is  alto- 
gether incredible,  and  never  was  and  never  will  be 
believed  by  any  rational  mind.  The  moment  regen- 
eration is  proved  to  be  an  instantaneous  change  from 
unabated  enmity  to  supreme  love,  the  argument  for 
the  self-determining  power  is  forever  ruined. 

Nor  will  any  relief  be  found  by  seeking  an  ally  for 
the  will  in  the  understanding.    Universal  experience 
proves  that  the  understanding  cannot  control,  much 
less  create,  the  affections.       If  it  could  every  man 
would  be  sure  to  do  as  well  as  he  knows  how.     If  it 
could   the    enmity  of  the    natural  heart  would  be 
chargeable  only  to  ignorance,  and  then   the  enmity 
would  not  be  directed  against  the   true   God,  but 
against  ^  false  image  of  God  which  it  is  every  man's 
duty  to  hate.     These  faculties  of  the  mind  have  in- 
deed some  control  over  each  other,  but  by  no  means 
enough  to  support  such  an  hypothesis.      Their  em- 
pires are  very  distinct,  and  divide  a  man  as  it  were 
against  himself      In  its  turn  the  understanding  will 
not  submit  to  the  heart.     Whoever  set  himself  down 
to  any  mental  effort,  for  instance  to  write  a  compo- 
sition, without   feeling  tlie  uncertainty  whether  his 
intellect  would  obey  his  wishes?      The  will  has  to 
stand    and  solicit,   and    is   often  held  in   suspense 
whether  its  suit  will  be  favoured  or  denied.     Could 
the  heart  control  the  understanding,  who  would  not 
at  once  make  himself  a  Newton?     And  it  is  only  an 
equal  law  of  nature   that  the   understanding  should 
not  control  the  heart.      If  it  could  who  would  not 
speedily  rid  himself  of  many  uncomfortable  passions? 
If  it  could  which  of  you  would  not  become  a  Chris- 
tian at  once? 

The  theory  of  the  self-determining   power  being 
thus  set  aside,  those  systems  which  have  been  built 


112  REGENERATION  [lECT.    VI. 

upon  it  sink  of  course.  These  systems  may  all  be 
reduced  to  three;  the  Pelagian,  Arminian,  and  Semi- 
Arminian.  I  will  spend  a  moment  in  spreading 
these  out  by  the  side  of  the  Calvinistic  doctrine, 
that  you  may  distinctly  see  in  what  points  they 
differ. 

The  Pelagian  theory  is,  that  God  does  no  more 
than  present  motives  to  the  mind  by  the  external 
light  of  truth:  to  these  the  will  in  the  exercise  of  its 
self-determining  power  yields  or  refuses  to  yield,  and 
the  good  man  alone  makes  himself  to  differ  from 
others  who  possess  equal  means  of  information. 
This  system  wholly  sets  aside  the  influences  of  the 
divine  Spirit. 

The  Arminian  theory  is  precisely  the  same,  only 
it  acknowledges  the  enlighiening  influence  of  the 
Spirit  as  an  auxiliary  in  setting  motives  before  the 
mind.  To  these  motives  the  will,  in  the  exercise  of 
its  self-determining  power,  yields  or  refuses  to  yield, 
and  the  good  man  alone  makes  himself  to  differ 
from  others  who  enjoy  common  grace. 

The  Semi-Jlrminian  theory  differs  from  the  latter 
only  in  name  and  in  a  greater  confusion  of  lan- 
guage. According  to  this  system  God  affords  a 
portion  of  spiritual  aid,  producing  something  more 
than  light,  and  something  less  than  holiness.  If  that 
aid  is  improved  he  will  afford  more,  and  so  on  till 
the  change  is  complete.  This  undefinable  influence 
between  an  enlightening  and  a  sanctifying^  one,  the 
mind,  though  utterly  destitute  of  ^^true  holiness, ^^  is  ca- 
pable of  improving  so  as  to  meet  with  divine  appro- 
bation, and  in  reward  to  receive  more;  but  it  is  ca- 
pable, by  the  self-determining  power  of  the  will 
which  that  influence  does  not  control,  of  misim- 
proving  the  grace  and  so  losing  the  effect.  God  re- 
ally does  more  for  one  than  another,  because  one 
has  better  improved  his  grace,  though  with  an  unholy 
heart;  but  he  would  do  as  much  for  one  as  another 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  113 

if  all  would  improve  alike.  The  real  difference  is 
made,  not  by  discriminating  grace,  but  by  one's  im- 
proving divine  influence  better  than  another,  through 
the  self-determining  power  of  the  will  which  that 
influence  did  not  control.  This  theory  rests  its 
weight  on  three  columns;  the  self-determining  power, 
progressive  regeneration,  and  the  dogma  that  God 
approves  of  unholy  deeds;  all  which  I  persuade 
myself  have  been  proved  to  be  but  shadows. 

Men  go  through  life  the  dupes  of  names.      I  beg 
to  know  what  can  be  meant  by   an  influence  which 
produces  something  more  than  light,  and  something 
less  than  holiness?  Does  it  enlarge  the  understanding.^ 
Does  it  strengthen  the  memory?     And  if  it  did  what 
then']  What  has  an  enlargement  of  natural  powers  to 
do  with  a  change  of  heart"?      Satan  in  natural  pow- 
ers  surpasses  any  saint  on  earth.       But  of  a  moral 
tendency  what   other  influence  can  there  be,  than 
that   which  informs  the  conscience  or  improves  the 
heart?    in  other  words,   than  that  which  enlightens  ox 
sanctifies?^       Do  you    say   it  is   an  influence  which 
would  lead  to  holiness  if  the  ivill  did  not  resist?     But 
what  other  can  that  be  than  an  enlightening  influence.^ 
Come    fix   a   miscropic    eye  on    this  single   point. 
What  influence  can  you  conceive  of  between  that 
which   presents  motives    to  the   will,  leaving  it  un- 
constrained, and  that  which  bends  the  will  by  con- 
straining power?^  Do  you  say  there  may  be  a  press- 
ure of  power  which  the  will  resists?    But  upon  your 
principle  what  right  has  power  to  encroach  upon  the 
freedom  of  the  will  by  undertaking  to  compel  it?     If 
I  have  no  right  to  bring  a  man  by  force  to  the  house 
of  God,  I  have  no  right  to  exert  the  least  muscular 
strength  upon  him,  or  to  assail  him  in  any  other  way 
than  by  motives.    But  who  Jcnoivs  that  such  a  pressure 
is  made  if  no  effect  follows?     Who  can  be  conscious 

*  For  an  explanation  and  vindication  of  such  expressions,  see  Note  to 
peige  115. 


114  REGENERATION  [lECT.    VI. 

of  a  divine  influence  but  by  the  effect?  But  if  there 
is  an  effect,  what  effect?  What  effect  pressing  in 
the  direction  of  holiness?  Do  you  say  there  is 
thoughtfulness.  solemnity,  and  distress?  But  these 
are  only  natural  effects  of  light  carried  home  to  the 
conscience.  Do  you  say  it  removes  prejudice? 
But  how  except  by  lights  since  it  leaves  the  heart 
unaltered?  Do  you  say  it  restrains  from  passion  and 
sin?  But  how  except  by  motives^  (and  by  regulating 
perhaps  the  tone  of  the  body,  and  the  disposition  of 
outward  circumstances,)  if  the  Aear/!  remains  the  same? 
This  intermediate  influence  then  must  be  an  illusion 
unless  it  is  something  which  makes  the  heart  better 
without  holiness.  But  it  has  appeared  in  a  former 
lecture,  that  in  the  nature  of  things  the  heart  can- 
not be  made  better  till  it  is  supremely  fixed  on  God. 
I  ask  again,  what  aid  can  the  mind  need  other  than 
light,  when  the  self-determining  power  is  fully  com- 
petent to  settle  the  issue?  If  the  will  cannot  de- 
termine itself  to  good  without  other  aid,  what  be- 
comes of  the  boasted  self-determining  power?  I  cannot 
therefore  comprehend  what  more  the  sinner  is  to  re- 
ceive for  improving  the  grace.  More  whatl^  More 
strength?  But  what  do  you  mean  by  more  strength? 
Do  you  mean  more  natural  powers  of  body  or  mind? 
But  these  are  not  needed  upon  any  plan,  certainly 
not  upon  yours,  for  the  will,  you  say,  is  fully  compe- 
tent to  determine  itself.  Do  you  then  mean  more 
7noral  strength?  But  moral  strength  is  holiness,  of 
which  the  sinner  possesses  none  till  regeneration  is 
complete.  Do  you  mean  more  strength  of  resolution 
and  desire?  But  what  are  resolutions  and  desires  that 
make  the  heart  no  better?  Do  you  mean  resolutions 
and  desires  which  gradually  improve  the  heart  without 
holiness?  But  this  again  is  running  foul  of  the  doc- 
trine of  progressive  regeneration,  which  has  been 
shown  to  be  a  dream.  You  must  then  mean  more 
light,  and  it  comes  to  this  at  last,   that  all  which  has 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  115 

been  received  is  an  enlightening  influence,  that  all 
which  is  to  be  received  is  more  lights  and  still  more 
light, — and  the  self-determining  power  of  the  will, 
influenced  only  by  light,  is  to  change  the  heart:  and 
this  carries  you  back  to  downright  Arminianism,  from 
which  you  never  departed  but  in  name  and  in  a 
more  perfect  confusion  of  tongues.  Indeed  it  is 
capable  of  the  fullest  demonstration,  that  between 
the  grossest  Arminianism  and  the  correct  system 
there  can  be  no  medium.  And  then  this  ruinous 
attempt  to  bolster  up  the  self-righteousness  of  sin- 
ners by  telling  them  that  God  will  reward  their  un- 
holy deeds!  Has  it  not  been  shown  that  all  the 
feelinojs  and  actions  of  the  unreojenerate,  so  far  as 
they  partake  of  a  moral  nature,  are  not  only  unholy 
but  sinful.  And  will  you  presume  to  tell  men  that 
God  will  reward  sin,  or  things  at  best  but  indifferent? 
that  he  will  lavish  rewards  on  men  who  are  out  of 
Christ  and  still  lie  under  condemnation.''  Do  it  if  you 
will,  but  you  must  answer  it  to  God. 

In  opposition  to  all  these  theories  the  Calvinist 
tells  you,  that  the  heart  is  so  depraved  that  it  will 
not  improve  divine  influence  till  it  is  changed;  that  it 
stuhhornly  resists  all  light  and  motives  till  it  is  forced 
to  submit;  that  the  moral  ruler  has  as  much  occa- 
sion to  subdue  the  heart  by  strength,  as  an  earthly 
king  to  quell  by  force  his  rebellious  subjects;  and 
that  the  simple  history  of  the  change  is,  that  God 
makes  his  people   willing  in  the  day  of  \\\?,  power.* 

*  When  the  author  speaks  of  the  will's  being  constrained  and  subdued, 
he  means  nothing  inconsistent  w'ah  freedom.  He  means  merely  that  a  re- 
bellious icill  has  its  resistance  destroyed  by  the  power  of  God.  But  it  still 
remains  a  icill,  and  acts  as  suchj  that  is,  the  mind  continues  to  will,  in 
other  words,  to  be  loilliu'r,  and  if  willing  ihon  free.  The  very  act  of  the 
will  is  voluntariness  itself, — is  therefore  freedom  itself:  and  the  question 
whether  this  faculty  is  under  a  constraint  inconsistent  with  liberty,  is  to 
the  author's  mind  as  unmeaning  as  the  question  whether  freedom  is  free. 
The  onl}'  effect  of  what  in  popular  language  he  calls  a  constraining  influ- 
ence is  that  God's  people  arc  made  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power.  But 
when  an  opposing  will,  which  is  the  voluntary  action  of  the  man,  has  its 
resistance  destroyed  by  the  power  of  God; — when  the  spontaneous  and 


116  REGENERATION  [lECT.    VI. 

And  if  the  change  is  instantaneous  from  unabated 
enmity  to  supreme  love,  the  Calvinist  must  be  right. 
These  other  theories  are  founded  on  the  principle  of 
progressive  regeneration,  (so  far  as  they  recognise 
any  such  change,)  and  on  that  of  the  self-deter- 
mining power.  Prove  regeneration  to  be  instanta- 
neous, and  thus  dissolve  the  dream  of  the  self-deter- 
mining power,  and  all  these  theories  sink  at  once. 

But  to  whom  do  the  Scriptures  ascribe  the  change 
in  question?  The  answer  meets  you  on  every  page. 
^'' The  preparations  of  the  heart  in  man  and  the  answer 
of  the  tongue  is  from  the  Lord."  "Every  good  gift 
and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above,  and  cometh  down 
from  the  Father  of  lights."  "By  grace  are  ye  saved, 
through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift 
of  God."  "Who  then  is  Paul  and  who  is  Apollos, 
but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed,  even  as  the  Lord 
gave  to  every  man?  I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered, 
but  God  gave  the  increase.  So  then  neither  is  he  that 
planteth  any  thing,  neither  he  that  watereth,  but  God 
that  giveth  the  increase.""^ 

II.  Is  this  change  brought  about  according  to 
the  stated  operations  of  nature,  or  in  a  supernat- 
ural way? 

In  settling  this  question  every  thing  depends  on 
obtaining  precise  ideas  of  the  meaning  of  the  terms. 
What  then  is  meant  by  the  staled  operations  of 
nature?  Precisely  what  the  terms  obviously  ex- 
press, and  what  they  have  always  been  understood 
to  import;  viz.  the  stated  operations  of  divine  power, 
exerted  through  the  medium  oj  second  causes,  and  in  so 
uniform  a  way  that  a  person,  having  a  comprehensive 

wicked  opposition  of  the  soul  is  thus  annihilated  by  superior  strength,  it  is 
calculated  to  give  a  just  idea  of  ihe  jiioral  agencij  and  guilt  of  the  sinner 
to  say,  that  the  imlL  is  subdued,  fhat  the  rebel  is  conquered.  And  if  this 
style  does  not  perfectly  accord  with  the  dialect  of  metaphysicians,  it  is  no 
less  to  its  praise  that  it  agrees  with  the  language  of  pi-ophets  and  apos- 
tles. 
*  Prov.  xvi.  1.     1  Cor.  iii.  5 — 7.     Eph.  ii.  8,     James  i.  17. 


LECT.    ri.]  SUPERNATURAL.  117 

view  of  all  the  laws  of  nature,  and  particularly  of  the 
second  causes  that  would  be  brought  to  act  in  a  given 
case,  might  infallibly  calculate  the  issue  unless  disap- 
pointed by  a  supernatural  interposition. 

This  stated  operation  extends  not  only  to  matter 
but  mind,  and  of  course  to  man  as  composed  of 
both.  Could  you  perfectly  know  the  habitual  dispo- 
sition of  a  man,  what  would  be  the  state  of  his  body 
and  outward  circumstances  at  a  given  time,  and  all 
the  motives  that  would  assail  him;  and  were  you  suf- 
ficiently skilled  in  the  laws  of  nature  to  estimate 
universally  and  with  precision  the  influence  of  sec- 
ond causes;  you  might  infallibly  calculate  how  he 
would  feel  and  act  if  not  prevented  by  a  supernatu- 
ral influence.  Even  with  our  limited  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  nature,  we  can  form  in  many  instances 
very  correct  conjectures  respecting  the  future  con- 
duct of  men.  A  skill  at  this  calculation  forms  much 
of  the  ability  of  the  statesman,  and  indeed  much  of 
the  prudence  of  ordinary  life.  From  the  laws  of 
nature  you  may  calculate  with  great  certainty,  that 
men  in  given  circumstances  will  exercise  feelings 
wholly  unlike  any  which  they  now  possess,  and  in  some 
cases,  wholly  unlike  any  which  they  ever  had;  as 
that  a  passionate  man,  whom  you  now  see  placid 
and  aflectionate,  will  rage  when  he  is  provoked;  as 
that  a  covetous  man,  who  is  now  melted  into  com- 
passion and  charity,  will  exercise  oppression  as  soon 
as  a  fit  occasion  offers;  as  that  a  youth,  when  he 
becomes  a  parent,  will  exercise  parental  affection. 
Now  can  you  form  any  such  calculation  respecting 
the  future  conversion  of  men?  or  could  you  if  you 
were  perfectly  acquainted  with  all  the  laws  of 
nature?     This  is  the  question  to  be  tried. 

But  before  proceeding  to  examine  those  laws  of 
nature  on  which  this  effect  must  depend  if  it  is  a 
natural  effect,  let  us  be  fully  apprised  of  the  conse- 
quences which  must  result  from  adopting  such  a 
11 


118  REGENERATION  [lECT.    IV. 

principle.  If  the  change  is  brought  about  by  di- 
vine power  working  through  the  medium  of  second 
causes,  according  to  the  established  course  of  nature, 
then  these  consequences  will  follow. 

First,  no  greater  or  other  exertion  of  power  is 
made  at  the  time  of  producing  the  effect,  than  was 
made  in  the  antecedent  preparations  in  nature  to 
produce  it. 

Secondly,  no  greater  or  other  exertion  of  power  is 
made  where  the  effect  follows  than  where  it  does  not, 
the  whole  exertion  being  put  forth  to  support  the 
attributes  of  the  natural  agents,  which  are  always  the 
same  whether  combined  for  action  or  not,  and  must 
produce  the  effect  when  they  are  combined  and 
meet  with  no  special  resistance.  Thus  no  greater  or 
other  exertion  is  made  to  produce  a  crop,  where 
seed  and  soil  and  rain  and  heat  and  air  combine 
and  find  no  special  resistance,  than  to  support  the 
same  agents  where  they  do  not  combine,  or  where 
the  crop  is  prevented  by  reptiles,  flood,  fire,  or  the 
violence  of  man. 

Thirdly,  where  all  the  natural  agents  combine, 
the  effect  cannot  be  prevented  without  a  supernat- 
ural interposition. 

Fourthly,  where  natural  agents  enough  combine 
to  produce  the  effect  in  one  instance,  they  will  pro- 
duce it  in  all  unless  prevented  by  special  resistance. 
We  should  then  expect  that  the  same  outward  means 
that  can  convert  one,  would  convert  all,  unless  some 
invisible  cause,  such  as  peculiar  stubbornness,  or, 
special  temptation,  or  the  self-determining  power 
prevented.  But  persons  apparently  the  most  stub- 
born, and  most  exposed  to  temptation,  often  be- 
come Christians,  while  others,  apparently  more 
pliable  and  less  tempted,  remain  in  sin, — both  un- 
der the  same  instruction.  To  account  for  number- 
less disproportions  of  this  sort,  we  should  be  obliged, 
so  far  as  we  can  discover,  to  resort  to  the  self-deter- 
mining power  of  the  will. 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  119 

The  whole  drift  of  these  consequences  is  to  deny 
that  regeneration  is  any  greater  or  other  exhibition 
of  divine  power  than  the  common  operations   of 
nature.    But  how  does  this  comport  with  those  texts 
which  represent  the  change  as   preeminently   the 
work  of  God,   and   as  being  a  vast  exhibition  of 
power?     "This   shall  be   the  covenant  that  I  will 
make  with  the  house  of  Israel:     After  those  days, 
saith  the  Lord,  1  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward 
parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts,  and  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people."      "And /will 
give  them  one  heart  and  one  way,  that  they  may 
fear  me  forever.— i  will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts 
that  they  shall  not  depart  from  me."     "TAe  Lord  thy 
God  will  circumcise  thine  heart  and  the  heart  of 
thy  seed  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God."      "/will  pour 
upon  the  house  of  David  and  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplica- 
tion; and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have 
pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn."      "I  thank  thee,  O 
Father,   Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou 
hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  and 
hast  revealed  them  unto  babes.      Even  so,  Father, 
for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."      "Blessed  art 
thou,  Simon  Bar-jona,  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  it   unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."     "No  man   can  come  to   me  except  the 
Father  which   hath  sent  me  draw   him.— No   man 
can  come  unto  me  except  it  were  given  unto  him  of 
my  Father.^''      "A  certain  woman,  named  Lydia, — 
heard  us,  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened."    "For  God 
who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness, 
hath  shined  in  our  hearts  to  give  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ."      "In  whom  also  ye  are  circumcised  with 
the  circumcision  made  without  hands,   in  putting  off 
the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcis- 
ion of  Christ;  buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein 


120  BEGENERATION  [lECT.    VI. 

also  you  are  risen  with  him  through  the  faith  of  the 
operation  of  God  who  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead." 
"The  eyes  of  your  understanding  being  enlightened, 
that  ye  may  know — what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of 
his  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to  the 
working  of  his  mighty  power  which  he  wrought  in 
Christ  ivhen  he  raised  him  from  the  dead  and  set  him 
at  his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places."  By 
the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am;"  "ministering  the 
Gospel  of  God,  that  the  offering  up  of  the  Gentiles 
might  be  acceptable,  being  sanctified  by  the  Holy 
Ghost:^^  "Whereof  I  was  made  a  minister,  accord- 
ing to  the  gift  of  the  grace  of  God  given  unto  me 
by  the  effectual  working  of  hispoiver.  Now  unto  him 
that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 
we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh 
in  us,  unto  him  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Jesus 
Christ  throughout  all  ages,  world  without  end."* 

Such  is  the  emphasis  every  where  laid,  not  only 
on  the  agency,  but  on  the  mighty  power  of  God  in 
sanctifying  the  heart.  And  now  let  me  ask,  do 
these  representations  appear  as  though  he  was  the 
author  of  holiness  in  no  higher  sense  than  he  is  the 
"father"  of  "the  rain"  and  begetteth  "the  drops  of 
the  dew?" 

But  this  question  must  be  brought  to  a  stricter 
test.  It  is  necessary  to  examine  those  laws  of  nat- 
ure in  relation  to  mind  on  which  the  change  must 
depend  if  it  is  a  natural  effect.  If  this  part  of  the 
subject  should  be  less  intelligible  and  interesting,  it 
may  be  some  consolation  to  know  that  it  will  not 
be  long. 

There  are  but  two  ways  of  changing  the  mind  of 
man  by  second  causes;  one  by  motives,  the  other  by 
mechanical  influence.      Every  influence  of  a  second 

*  Deut.  XXX.  6.  Jer.  xxxi.  33.  and  xxxii.  39,  40.  Zech.  xii.  10.  Mat. 
xi.  25,  26.  and  xvi.  17.  John  vi.  44,  65.  Acts  xvi.  14.  Rom.  xv.  16.  1 
Cor.  XV.  10.    2  Cor.  iv.  6.     Eph.  i.  18—20.  and  iii.  7,  20.     Col.  ii.  11, 12. 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  ]2l 

cause  which  is  not  of  the  nature  of  a  motive,  may 
properly  be  denominated  mechanical,  as  its  action, 
not  being  through  the  medium  of  the  will,  is  much 
like  that  of  one  material  substance  upon  another. 
Now  if  we  examine  the  effects  produced  on  mind 
by  these  two  causes,  we  shall  come  to  the  three  fol- 
lowing conclusions:  first,  that  motives  have  no  influ- 
ence to  change  the  disposition;  secondly,  that  me- 
chanical causes,  which  alter  the  disposition,  taste, 
and  feelings  of  the  mind,  do  it  by  ^gradual  process, 
except  in  the  single  instance  where  the  change  de- 
pends on  a  sudden  alteration  in  the  state  of  the 
hody;  thirdly,  that  of  course  no  law  of  nature  can 
produce  an  instantaneous  change  of  heart. 

The  three  leading  laws  of  nature  in  relation  to 
mind  which  havQ  any  connexion  with  our  subject, 
are  these: 

First,  that  the  will,  the  immediate  cause  of  mus- 
cular motion,  is  governed  by  motives  addressed  to 
the  heart  and  approved  by  the  heart.  As  far  as  the 
motive  agrees  with  the  temper  of  the  heart,  that  is, 
with  the  tastes  and  afiections  of  the  man,  and  no 
further,  has  it  any  power  to  move  the  will.  A  feast 
is  no  motive  where  there  is  no  appetite.  The  hap- 
piness of  another  is  no  motive  where  the  person  is 
hated.  The  glory  of  God  is  no  motive  to  an  oppos- 
ing heart.  The  power  of  a  motive  to  influence  the 
will,  always  presupposes  a  disposition  in  the  heart 
to  entertain  and  fall  in  with  it. 

Secondly,  the  disposition  of  the  heart,  (whether 
you  mean  by  dispositio-n  the  stated  manner  of  its  act- 
ing or  the  foundation  of  its  exercises,)  is  never  pro- 
duced by  motives  even  as  a  second  cause.  If  by  the 
disposition  of  the  heart  you  mean  the  stated  manner 
of  its  acting,  and  call  the  objects  towards  which  it 
acts  the  motives  of  its  action,  then  my  position  is, 
that  the  objects,  (though  individually  the  occasion  of 
each  particular  exercise,)  never  gave  the  heart  the 

*11 


122  REGENERATION  [lECT.    VI. 

habitual  turn  to  act  with  love  rather  than  aversion 
towards  objects  of  that  description.  To  be  beloved 
the  objects  must  individually  be  of  a  class  which  the 
heart  is  already  accustomed  to  love,  or  is  commenc- 
ing the  custom  under  the  influence  of  a  cause  wholly 
distinct  from  the  objects.  An  object  belonging  to 
a  class  which  the  heart  is  accustomed  to  hate,  will 
not  excite  love  till  there  is  first  a  change  of  stated 
action  which  the  object  did  not  produce.  The 
heart  must  have  begun  a  course  of  action  favourable 
to  objects  of  a  particular  description,  before  you 
can  calculate  that  any  one  of  them  will  be  beloved. 
When  one  of  that  class,  standing  late  in  the  series, 
is  presented  to  the  mind  and  meets  with  regard,  you 
at  once  perceive  that  ^/m^  individual  did  not  produce 
the  established  course.  Transfer  then  your  thoughts 
to  the^?*5^  object  in  the  series,  and  you  immediately 
discover  that  that  individual  had  no  more  influence 
to  settle  the  course.  You  instantly  resort  to  an 
anterior  cause.  That  cause  you  say  is  God,  whose 
influence  to  begin  the  course  was  prior  in  the  order 
of  nature  to  the  first  act  towards  the  first  object. 
The  objects  individually  occasion  action  oi  some  sort; 
but  that  a  whole  class  are  statedly  loved  by  one  and 
hated  by  another,  must  be  imputed  to  a  cause  wholly 
distinct  from  the  objects  themselves:  for  if  the  cause 
lay  in  the  objects,  the  efiect  would  be  the  same  on 
every  mind.  It  is  obvious  therefore  that  the  love  of 
an  object  presupposes  a  course  of  action  favourable 
to  objects  of  that  class,  previously  established,  or 
then  commencing  under  the  influence  of  a  cause 
wholly  independent  of  the  object.  In  other  words, 
it  presupposes  a  stated  manner  of  action, — a  disposi- 
tion, (as  you  are  pleased  to  call  it,)  which  the  object 
had  no  influence  to  produce.  What  is  presupposed 
in  \hQ  first  influence  which  the  object  exerts,  could 
not  be  produced  by  the  object  itself,  even  as  a  sec- 
ond cause. 


LFXT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  1^3 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  mean  by  disposition  a 
taste  or  principle  that  is  the  foundation  of  exercises, 
then  it  is  still  more  evident  that  an  object  to  be  be- 
loved must  be  adapted  to  the  existing  disposition:  of 
course  it  had  no  influence  to  produce  it.  If  you  ad- 
mit the  existence  of  a  taste  or  principle,  and  call 
the  object  the  motive  which  moves  the  heart  to  ac- 
tion, you  will  readily  allow  that  the  object  must  be 
accommodated  to  the  taste  before  it  can  become  a 
motive,  that  is,  before  it  can  be  beloved.  It  must 
find  the  disposition  prepared  to  entertain  it  before  it 
can  move  the  heart.  A  hated  object  can  never  be 
a  motive  to  love;  but  a  beloved  object  finds  the 
taste  already  in  its  favour.  The  power  of  the  ob- 
ject to  become  a  motive  presupposes  a  disposition  m 
the  heart  to  love  it.  Of  course  it  did  not  produce 
that  disposition  even  as  a  second  cause.  And  if  by 
its  own  charms  it  cannot  create  the  disposition,  nei- 
ther can  it  by  associating  with  itself  the  considera- 
tion o{  advantage.  The  heart  is  not  so  to  be  bribed. 
"If  a  man  would  give  all  the  substance  of  his  house 
for  love,  it  would  utterly  be  contemned."^  It  is  im- 
possible then  that  a  new  disposition  should  be  pro- 
duced in  a  natural,  (I  may  add,  or  even  in  a  super- 
natural) way,  by  the  influence  of  motives.  Motives, 
as  objects  of  love  or  aversion,  occasions  the  heart 
to  act  according  to  its  existing  disposition,  and  there 
their  power  ends.f 

Thirdly,  though   the   taste   and   feelings   of  the 
heart  cannot  be  changed  by  motives,  they  do  under- 

*  Cant.  viii.  7.  •  i     •    r  i 

t  To  some  who  cast  an  eye  on  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  it  did  not 
appear  self-evident  that  a  new  disposition  may  not  be  produced  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  motives,  though  not  in  a  natural,  yet  in  a  supernatural 
way.  But  '{(in the  nature  of  things  a  motive  cannot  exert  an  influence  on 
the  mind  till  it  first  accords  with  the  disposition;  for  instance,  if  a  feast 
cannot  excite  a  desire  while  it  is  loathed;  it  cannot  be  made  to  exert  such 
an  influence  by  any  power  whatever.  For  one  to  exercise  a  direct  desire 
for  what  he  hates,— for  a  detested  object  to  awaken  love,  or  by  all  the 
considerations  associated  with  it  to  produce  a  disposition  to  love  the  ob- 
ject for  its  own  sake,  appears  uoi  to  lie  within  the  reach  of  possibility. 


124  REGENERATION  [lECT.     VI, 

go  great  and  permanent  alterations  through  the  me^ 
chanical  influence  of  second  causes,  and  therefore  in 
a  natural  way;  but  these  changes  are  all  brought 
about  by  a  gradual  process,  except  in  the  single  in- 
stance where  they  depend  on  a  sudden  alteration  in 
the  state  of  the  body.  Where  the  body  is  suddenly 
and  permanently  thrown  into  a  new  state  by  deep 
affliction  or  disease,  the  man  may  instantly  and  final- 
ly lose,  for  example,  his  love  of  books,  his  love  of 
music  or  painting  or  commercial  business  or  a  mili- 
tary life.  In  all  other  instances  the  change  is  slow 
and  progressive.  How  many  new  tastes  or  habits  of 
feeling  are  gradually  formed  by  enlargement  of  views, 
by  increasing  age,  by  new  connexions,  by  a  change 
of  employment,  by  the  influence  of  climate,  diet,  af- 
fliction, and  various  other  causes. 

According  to  these  laws  then  God  acts  in  a  nat- 
ural way  when  he  causes  the  muscles  to  obey  the 
will,  the  will  to  obey  the  heart  by  yielding  to  mo- 
tives which  the  heart  approves,  the  heart  to  act  to- 
wards diflferent  objects  according  to  its  present  dis- 
position, naturally  produced,  (whether  you  mean  by 
disposition  the  stated  manner  of  its  acting  or  some- 
thing which  is  the  foundation  of  its  exercises,)  or 
when  he  alters  the  disposition,  either  suddenly  by  a 
change  in  the  body^  or  progressively  by  the  mechanical 
influence  of  other  natural  causes.  These  I  call  nat- 
ural eflects,  because  a  person  acquainted  with  all 
the  laws  of  nature,  knowing  perfectly  the  pr.esent 
disposition  of  another  and  all  the  mechanical  causes 
that  would  conspire  to  alter  it,  (every  thing  super- 
natural being  withheld,)  having  a  complete  view  of 
the  state  of  that  person's  body  and  outward  cir- 
cumstances at  a  given  time,  and  foreseeing  all  the 
motives  that  would  be  addressed  to  his  heart,  might 
calculate  how  he  would  feel  and  act,  we  have  every 
reason  to  believe,  with  as  much  precision  as  we  can 
calculate  an  eclipse. 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  125 

Now  to  apply  these  principles  to  the  case  of  re- 
generation.    It  will  not  be  pretended  that  this  great 
and  permanent  revolution  of  character  is  produced 
by  a  sudden  alteration  in  the  state  of  the  body;  and 
as  it  is  instantaneous,  it  cannot  be  brought  about  by 
the  mechanical  influence  of  other  second  causes,  not 
therefore  by  light,  in  the  way  that  our  tastes  and  hab- 
its of  feeling  are  gradually  changed  by  knowledge. 
Therefore  in  one  of  the  two  ways  in  which  the  mind 
is  changed  by  second  causes,  this  revolution  cannot 
take  place.     It  must  then,  if  it  is  a  natural  eftect,  be 
brought  about   by  motives.     But  motives,  we  have 
seen,  have  no  influence  to  produce  a  new  disposition 
in  either  sense  of  the  word,  least  of  all  to  produce 
that  heavenly  temper  which  is  wrought  in  regenera- 
tion.    Though  the  word  of  God  in  the  shape  of  mo- 
tives has  an  important  instrumentality  in  carrying  on 
the  preparatory  work  in  the  conscience,  and  in  occa- 
sioning the  exercises  of  the  new  heart,  it  is  in  no  sense 
instrumental   in  changing  the  disposition.     The  mo- 
tives must  find  the  disposition  already  prepared  to 
favour  them  before  they  can  act  upon  the  mind. — 
The  holiness  and  justice  of  God,  for  instance,  are  no 
motives  to  love  while  they  are  hated.     The  amiable- 
ness  of  religion  is  no  motive  while  it  does  not   ap- 
pear amiable  to  the  mind.     The  mercy  of  God,  and 
the  rewards  of  religion,  with  all  the  hopes  they  in- 
spire, and  all  the  claims  to  gratitude  they  bring,  and 
I  may  add,  the  terrors  of  the  law,  find  nothing  of  a 
moral  nature  to  address  in  such  a  heart  but  the  mere 
principle  of  selfishness:  but  considerations  addressed 
to  selfishness,   or   which   find  nothing  else   in   the 
heart  to  appeal  to,  can  never  weaken  the  dominion 
of  self-love.     The  reasonableness  of  religion  and  the 
criminality  of  sin  may  press  the  conscience,  but  they 
will  press  millions  of  consciences  to  eternity  without 
proving  motives  to  love.     If  conscience  can  control 
the  heart,  the  heart  is  not  depraved.    If  the  heart  is 


126  REGENERATION  [lECT.    ViJ 

I 

ready  to  love  God  as  soon  as  it  sees  its  obligations,! 
it  is  well  disposed.  If  all  that  is  to  be  removed  is! 
ignorance,  its  sin  is  only  a  misfortune.  If  the  enmity' 
is  a  mere  prejudice  v/hich  light  can  remove,  it  oppo-' 
ses  nothing  but  a  false  image  of  God,  and  is  com- 
mendable. But  if  the  carnal  mind  is  hostile  to  the 
true  God,  it  will  hate  him  the  more  the  more  it  sees 
him,  and  light,  (as  at  the  last  day,)  will  only  rouse 
the  enmity  to  stronger  action.  To  use  light  then  as 
an  instrument  to  cure  the  disposition,  is  like  using 
oil  to  extinguish  fire.  But  it  is  enough  to  ask,  how 
can  the  motives  of  religion  be  the  instruments  of  pro- 
ducing a  new  disposition,  when  that  disposition  must 
exist  before  the  motive  can  take  hold  of  the  heart.'* 
Or  the  question  may  be  decided  by  facts.  Have  not 
all  these  motives  assailed  the  heart  for  many  years, 
without  taking  away  a  particle  of  its  opposition"? 
For  months  together  have  they  not  been  set  home 
upon  the  conscience,  without  at  all  weakening  the 
enmity.^  How  comes  it  to  pass  then  that  at  length  in 
one  moment  they  enter  the  heart  and  rise  to  supreme 
dominion?  Have  they  all  at  once  broken  their  way 
through  and  assisted  in  new-modelling  a  heart  on 
which  till  that  moment  they  could  have  no  influence? 
The  decisive  question  is,  was  the  power  applied  to 
the  motives  to  open  a  passage  for  themselves,  or  to 
the  heart  to  open  a  passage  for  them?  Let  the  event 
declare; — the  heart  was  new  before  the  motives  en- 
tered. 

As  then  the  change  in  question  is  effected  neither 
by  mechanical  causes  nor  by  the  influence  of  mo- 
tives, it  is  not  brought  about  by  any  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  of  course  is  supernatural. 

An  eflfect  may  be  supernatural  which  is  produced 
by  a  second  cause  above  nature,  for  instance,  an  an- 
gel; but  the  one  under  consideration  is  not  only  su- 
pernatural but  immediate,  in  the  sense  in  which  those 
effects  were  immediate  which  followed  the  exten- 


jECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  127 

ion  of  Moses'  rod,  the  blast  of  trumpets  before  the 
valls  of  Jericho,  the  voice  of  Ezekiel  in  the  valley  of 
)ones,  and  the  application  of  clay  to  the  eyes  of  the 
)lind  man.^ 

To  sum  up  all  in  a  word,  there  is  no  stated  oper- 

ition    of  divine   power  from  which  we  can   infer, 

l>r  could  if  we  knew  all  the  laws  of  nature,  that  a 

onvicted  sinner,  in  any  state  in  which  he  can  be 

sfore  regeneration,  will  the  next  moment  be  the 

*  These  exei'lions  of  miraculous  power  I  consider  immediate,  though 
ijfeceded  by  antecedents  which  had  no  stated  connexion  with  the  effects. 
f  consider  no  power  mediately  exerted,  natural  or  supernatural;  but 
irou^h  an  instrument  which  statedly  produces  the  effect  when  employed. 

This  question  of  mediate  or  immediate  however  is  not  a  question  whether 
he  power  is  lodg-ed  in  second  causes  or  remains  in  God.  Even  physical 
auses  have  no  efficiency,  and  are  nothing  but  stated  antecedents.  But 
hey  have  a  nature  and  they  have  properties,  and  those  properties  act  up- 
>n  objects,  and  instrumentally  produce  effects,  and  become  real  second 
tauses.  Thus  fire  consumes  wood.  The  power  is  indeed  all  of  God,  but 
t  acts  only  in  that  influence  which  appears  to  be  inherent  in  the  second 
rause.  So  in  cases  of  supernatural  agency,  wherever  the  power  is  exer- 
ed  through  a  second  cause  it  appears  to  reside  in  that  cause;  as  where 
in  angel  is  employed,  or  where  sanctification  is  carried  on  by  a  stated  con- 
lexion  of  antecedents  and  consequents  according  to  a  law  of  the  new  cre- 
Uion.  I  know  of  no  instrument,  naturally  or  supernaturally  employed, 
hat  does  not  drop  its  own  proper  and  stated  influence  upon  the  subject. 
To  act  mediately  is  not  to  act  merely  after  an  antecedent,  but  to  act 
hrougk  a  secoml  cause.  But  where  the  properties  which  God  imparts  to 
an  antecedent  do  not  act  upon  the  subject  to  produce  the  effect,  he  cannot 
)e  said  to  act  through  a  second  cause  m  producing  it;  that  is,  his  influence 
s  not  barely  that  which  appears  to  reside  in  the  antecedent.  To  say  that 
in  effect  is  not  immediate  because  preceded  by  a  mere  antecedent  in 
vhich  is  lodged  no  influence  or  instiiimentality  more  than  in  any  other  an- 
:ecedents  in  another  part  of  the  world,  and  which  can  in  no  sense  be  re- 
garded as  a  second  cause,  seems  a  confusion  of  terms. 

In  point  of  immediateness  the  new  disposition  stands  exactly  on  a  foot- 
ng  with  these  miraculous  effects  mentioned  in  the  text.  In  one  case  the 
rod  was  stretched  out,  in  the  other  case  light  is  spread  before  the  mind; 
3ut  in  neither  can  I  trace  any  such  influence  in  the  antecedent  as  belongs 
to  a  second  cause. 

Even  physical  causes  are  only  stated  antecedents.  Yet  that  stated  con- 
nexion between  antecedents  and  consequents  is  what  we  calculate  upon  in 
all  our  attempts  to  accomplish  any  thing  in  a  natural  way  by  our  own 
agency.  To  suppress  all  similar  expectations  of  achieving  aii^  thing  by 
our  agency,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  the  business  of  regeneration,  I  urge 
that  there  is  no  established  connexion  between  any  antecedent  and  this 
effect.  This  is  all  I  mean.  And  this  must  be  maintained  in  order  to  sup- 
press the  presumptuous  hope.  For  if  regenerating  power  acts  through  a 
stated  antecedent  or  course  of  antecedents,  we  may  expect  as  much  from 
3ur  own  agency  in  this  as  in  physical  enterprises. 


128  hegeneration  [lect.  vi 

subject  of  this  change;  or  indeed  that  a  man  plactj 
in  any  situation,  or  assailed  by  any  means,  will  eWl 
become  a  real  Christian.  In  other  words,  there  is  n; 
second  cause  which  is  an  invariable  antecedent  t 
this  effect.  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  an 
thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof  but  canst  not  te 
whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it  goeth;  so  is  ever 
man  that  is  born  of  the  spirit."^ 

This  doctrine  is  confirmed  by  the  word  of  God  i 
representations  as  strong  as  any  language  can  fur 
nish.     The  change  is  there  expressed  by  a  variety  c 
names  borrowed  from  the  most  stupendous  opera 
tions  of  supernatural  power.     It  is  called  a  new  en 
ation;  "We  are  his    workmanship  created  in   Chris 
Jesus  unto  good  works."     "Therefore  if  any  man  h> 
in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature,^^     "The  new  man  whicl 
after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holi 
ness."     If  the    first  creation  established    the  laws  o 
nature^    the   new   creation,    according    to  analogy 
should  establish  another  series  of  operations,  regidai 
indeed,  but  above  nature.     And  this  appears  to  be  the 
fact.     Further,   the  change  is  called  a   resnrrectior, 
from    the   dead:     "You  hath  he  quickened  who  were 
dead  in  trespasses   and   sins. — God  who  is   rich  in 
mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us  even 
when  we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quickened  us  togeth- 
er with  Christ."     "As  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead 
and  quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom 
he  will. — The  hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the 
dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they 
that  hear  shall  Ziye."     The  vision  of  Ezekiel  is  to  the 
same  purpose.     The  change  is  also  called  by  names 
taken  from  the  supernatural  operations  of  our  Sav- 
iour upon  the  bodies  of  men,  such  as  opening  the  eyes 
of  the  blind  and  unstopping  the  ears  of  the  deaf:     "I 
the  Lord  have  called  thee  in  righteousness — to  open 
the  blind  eyes."     "And  in  that  day  shall   the  deaf 

*  John  iii.  8. 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  129 

hear  the  words  of  the  book,  and  the  eyes  of  the  blind 
shall  see  out  of  obscurity  and  out  of  darkness."  It 
'  is  called  the  removal  of  the  old  heart  and  the  j)ro  duct  ion 
*  of  a  new  one:  "A  new  heart — will  I  give  you,  and  a 
'  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you,  and  I  will  take  away 
the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you 
a  heart  of  flesh."  It  is  called  a  new  birth:  "Except 
a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God."*  The  first  birth  is  according  to  nature;  but 
I  am  disposed  to  inquire  with  the  wondering  Nico- 
demus,  by  what  natural  process  a  man  can  be  born 
when  he  is  old.  Indeed  all  these  figures,  if  you 
would  save  them  from  the  charge  of  the  most  unac- 
countable extravagance,  denote  a  change  above  na- 
ture. How  strangely  inflated  would  it  seem  to  call 
any  of  the  natural  alterations  which  daily  take  place 
in  our  feelings  and  conduct,  a  new  creation,  a  new 
birth,  or  a  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

But  though  the  effect  is  supernatural,  I  do  not 
call  it  miraculous,  this  term  being  appropriated  to 
events  more  obvious  to  the  senses,  and  intended  to 
furnish  visible  and  tangible  proof  of  the  truth  of  re- 
ligion. This  is  the  fair  definition  of  a  miracle;  and 
to  apply  the  name  to  such  an  invisible,  unobtrusive 
effect,  can  have  no  other  tendency  than  to  discredit 
the  doctrine  of  a  supernatural  change. 

III.  Is  this  change  wrought  on  account  of  any 
thing  previously  done  by  the  sinner,  or  in  any  sense 
by  his  co-operation? 

This  question  is  soon  disposed  of.  It  has  been 
proved  that  till  the  moment  of  the  change  the  sin- 
ner is  in  a  state  of  complete  rebellion  against  God, 
and  except  things  indiflferent  does  nothing  but  sin. 
But  does  the  moral  Governour  of  the  world  reward 
actions  which  are  sinful  or  indifferent?  I  have  prov- 

*  Isal.  xxix.  18.  and  xlii.  6.  7.  Ezek.  xi.  19.  and  xxxvi.  2G,  27.  and 
xxxvii.  1—10.  John  iii.  3.  5.  and  v.  21,  25.  2  Cor.  v.  17.  Eph.  u.  1.  4. 
5.  10.  and  iv.  2i.     Col.  ii.  13. 

12 


^^^  REGENERATION  [lECT.   V, 

ed  that  he  does  not.     And  what  proof  can  you  se 

in  opposition  to  this?  None  derived  from  his  promise. 

tor  It  has  been  shown  that  none  of  the  promises  rei 

spect  the  actions  of  the  unregenerate.     And  if  n 

jyromse  then  no  explicit  encouragement;  for   with  ev 

ery  being  of  truth  and  honour  such  an  encouraget 

ment  would  amount  to  a  promise.     You  cannot  tliei 

tind  the  proof  in  his  word     And  to  argue  from  hii 

providence   is    altogether    fallacious.        ''No    mar 

knoweth  either  love  or  hatred  by  all  that  is  before 

ttiem.     A  1  things  come  alike  to  all;  there  is  one 

event  to  the  righteous  and  to  the  wicked."*     You 

do  not  then  find  the  proof  in  his  providence  nor  yet 

m  his  word      Where  then  do  you  find  itr  Indeed  for 

a  man,  without  any  other  dependence  on   Christ  than 

the  um-egeneratefeel,  to  expect  to  obtain  a  new  heart 

trom  God  by  any  thing  which  he  can  say  or  do,  is 

sheer  seJf-nghteousness. 

Nor  does  the  sinner  co-operate  in  producing  this 
change,  unless  nnahated  enmity  is  co-operation.  In 
the  conversion  ^yhich  follows  he  is  indeed  active; 
but  m  effecting  the  change  itself,  he  co-operates  in 
no  other  sense  than  the  rebel  who  is  subdued  by 
torce  of  arms  assists  his  prince  in  vanquishing  him- 
selt.  His  conscience  is  indeed  on  the  side  of  God, 
and  so  are  the  consciences  of  devils.     His  wishes  ap- 

kZ  p'^'k^^^  '"T  ^^^>^'  ^"t  '^  '''  ^'^^  ^  selfish 
to  tL  t.  '  ^^r  ^^'  c^-operates  as  to  bring  him 
o  tl  e  emple  and  altar.  But  his  heart,  whi?h  in 
tne  sight  oi  God  is  the  whole  man,  struggles  against 
the  Spirit  tl  1  the  change  is  compleff.  Tifl  the 
whole  cause  has  exerted  itself,  the  whole  strength  of 
the  moral  ajfections  is  opposed  to  holiness. 


Eccl.  ix.  1.  2. 


IlECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  131 


INFERENCES. 

t 

'  (1.)  Wherever  this  supernatural  power  is  exer- 
ted the  effect  will  surely  follow.  What  should  hin- 
der? The  opposition  of  the  heart?  But  the  very 
thing  which  the  power  has  to  do  is  to  annihilate  that 
opposition  and  make  the  subject  '^willing.^^  If  it 
does  not  this  it  does  nothing,  it  has  not  the  least  in- 
fluence, it  is  no  power.  If  God  attempts  to  sanctify 
the  heart  and  does  not  succeed,  one  thing  is  certain, 
creatures  can  never  know  that  the  attempt  was  made 
unless  he  informs  them.  They  cannot  feel  his  hand, 
they  only  feel  the  effect.  But  God  is  not  likely  to 
disclose  a  secret  so  discreditable  to  his  power.  Do 
you  say  his  power  is  limited  by  a  regard  for  the  lib- 
erty of  his  subjects?  Then  I  propose  this  dilemma: 
either  he  can  make  his  people  "willing"  without  de- 
stroying their  freedom,  or  he  cannot:  if  he  can,  why 
should  the  attempt  ever  fail?  if  he  cannot,  his  suc- 
cess is  never  certain,  and  he  must  ask  leave  of  the 
self-determining  power  of  the  will  to  have  a  Church: 
how  then  could  he  promise  his  Son  a  seed  to  serve 
him?  But  it  is  not  so.  He  can  make  his  people 
"willing"  and  yet  leave  them  free.  If  they  are  "i^i/- 
ling^^  are  they  not  free?  What  is  freedom  but  a  pow- 
er to  do  as  they  please?  In  no  act  are  they  made  to 
act  against  their  will.  Their  willingness,  though 
produced  by  God,  is  as  much  their  own  willingness, 
as  though  they  had  produced  it  themselves.  Will 
you  say  that  the  infant  does  not  himself  live  because 
he  did  not  produce  his  own  life?  or  that  he  does  not 
himself  see  because  he  did  not  create  his  own  eyes? 
or  that  a  man  is  not  himself  willing,  and  therefore 
free,  because  he  was  made  willing  in  the  day  of 
God's  power?  What  then  should  hinder  God  from 
making  his  people  willing  in  every  instance  in  which 
he  undertakes?     In  other  words  what  should  hinder 


132  REGENERATION  [lECT.    VI 

him  from  destroying  all  resistance^  and  making  thd 
soul  a  willing  captive,  in  every  case  where  he  at 
tempts  to  produce  this  identical  effect?  This  is  the 
only  thing  that  he  ever  attempts  to  accomplish  wher 
he  exerts  his  sanctifying  influence.  If  this  is  no 
done  nothing  is  done;  if  this  is  not  attempted  noth- 
ing is  attempted;  for  between  making  his  people 
willing  and  not  making  them  willing,  there  is  no 
spot  at  which  his  sanctifying  power  can  stop,  no 
point  at  which  it  can  aim.  In  all  cases  then  where 
this  influence  is  exerted,  the  effect  will  certainly 
follow.*  Of  course  w^herever  this  effect  does  not 
follow,  the  influence  is  not  exerted.     Therefore, 

(2.)  God  exerts  this  influence  upon  some  and 
not  upon  others;  and  that  not  because  the  favoured 
ones  have  better  improved  his  grace,  not  because 
they  have  done  any  thing  to  aid  or  induce  him,  but 
because  he  "will  have  mercy  on  whom"  he  "will 
have  mercy."  "So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth 
nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth 
mercy. — Therefore  hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he  will 
have  mercy,  and  whom  he  will  he  hardeneth.  Thou 
wilt  say  then  unto  me,  Why  doth  he  yet  find  fault.^ 
for  who  hath  resisted  his  will?  Nay  but  O  man, 
who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God?  Shall  the 
thing  formed  say  to  him  that  formed  it,  why  hast 
thou  made  me  thus?  Hath  not  the  potter  power 
over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to  make  one  vessel 
unto  honour  and  another  unto  dishonour?"  "What 
saith  the  answer  of  God?  1  have  reserved  to  myself 
seven  thousand  men  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  Baal.  Even  so  then  at  this  present  time  there  is 
a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of  grace.  And 
^f  by  grace,  then  it  is  no  more  of  works;  otherwise 
grace  is  no  more  grace.  But  if  it  be  of  works,  then 
it  is  no  more  grace;  otherwise  work  is  no  more  work. 

*  Yet  the  influence  is  not  properly  called  irresistible,  for  it  merely  pre- 
ve7its  resistance. 


LECT.    VI.]  SUPERNATURAL.  133 

'  What  then?  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which  he 
seeketh  for,  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it,  and 
the  rest  were  blinded."  "I  thank  thee,  O  Father, 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid 
these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  and  hast 
revealed  them  unto  babes.  Even  so,  Father,  for  so 
it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  "Who  maketh  thee  to 
differ  from  another?  and  what  hast  thou  that  thou 
didst  not  receive?  JVow  if  thou  didst  receive  it,  why 
dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst  not  received  itV^ 
Does  the  Arminian  hear  this?  Do  a  gainsaying 
world  hear  this?  Let  every  mouth  be  stopped,  and 
the  whole  world  prostrate  and  speechless  before 
God.     Amen. 


*  Mat.  xi.  25, 26.    Rom .  ix,  15—21.  and  xi.  4—7,    1  Cor.  iv.  7. 


* 


12 


till 


LECTURE    VII, 

MEANS  OF  GRACE. 

ISAIAH  Iv.  11. 


so  SHALL  MY  WORD  BE  THAT  GOETH  FORTH  OUT  OF  MY  MOt?TH;  IT 
Sl^TALL  NOT  RETURN  UNTO  ME  VOID,  BUT  IT  SHALL  ACCOMPLISH 
THAT  WHICH  I  PLEASE,  AND  IT  SHALL  PROSPER  IN  THE  THING 
WHERETO   I   SENT   IT. 


In  former  lectures  it  has  appeared  that  during 
all  the  convictions  and  exertions  of  the  unregen- 
erate,  they  experience  no  diminution  of  depravity, 
no  approximation  towards  holiness,  no  feelings 
which  are  otherwise  than  sinful  or  indifferent;  that 
none  of  their  actions  in  the  sight  of  God  are  good, 
none  of  their  prayers  answered;  that  no  influence  of 
the  Spirit  is  exerted  upon  their  minds  further  than 
to  enlighten  them  and  leave  truth  to  work  its  nat- 
ural effect;  and  that  regeneration  viewed  distinct 
from  the  convictions  which  go  before  and  the  exer- 
cises which  follow  is  wrought  by  immediate  power. 

It  might  be  expected  that  something  should  be 
said,  in  this  part  of  the  course,  about  the  means  of 
grace;  and  for  this  purpose  I  have  chosen  a  text 
which  will  lead  me  to  speak  of  the  word  of  God:  for 
excepting  two  things  in  the  exertions  of  Christians 
which  I  shall  presently  mention,  all  the  means  of 


LECT.    VII.]  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  135 

grace  consist  in  the  truths  of  the  word,  and  the  various 
ways  of  conveying  them  to  the  mind.  What  are  Bibles 
sermons,  and  sacraments,  but  instruments  to  carry 
truth  to  the  understanding  and  heart?  What  are  all 
the  expostulations  of  others,  but  efforts  to  press  the 
motives  contained  in  truth  upon  the  sensibilities  of 
the  soul?  What  are  the  passions  which  preachers 
address,  but  channels  through  which  truth  is  carried 
to  the  quick,  or  instruments  to  rouse  the  soul  to 
view  it  with  sharpened  attention?  What  does  prov- 
idence more  than  illustrate  and  enforce  revealed 
truth?  Sabbaths  are  not  means  of  grace,  so  much  as 
opportunities  to  attend  on  ordinances  and  exercises 
that  are.  All  the  exertions  of  men  for  their  own 
salvation,  (except  mere  motions  of  the  body,  and 
two  things  in  the  efforts  of  Christians  before  allu- 
ded to,)  may  be  summed  up  in  the  single  word  at- 
tention,— attention  to  truth  and  to  the  ordinances 
which  convey  truth  to  the  mind.  If  the  attention 
is  set  to  watch  their  own  corruptions,  it  is  only  to 
see  the  illustrations  of  a  revealed  truth.  If  they 
strive  to  regulate  their  passions,  the  only  effort,  be- 
sides shunning  motives  which  excite  the  passions,  in 
other  words,  avoiding  temptation, — the  only  effort 
made  upon  the  mind,  is  to  fix  its  eye  steadily  on  mo- 
tives, drawn,  if  the  motives  are  right,  from  the  word 
of  God.  And  what  is  meditation,  other  than  a  fix- 
ed attention  to  truth?  Prayer  too,  besides  the  efii- 
cacy  of  asking  in  faith,  and  the  mere  exercise  of  pi- 
ous feelings,  is  only  the  highest  degree  of  attention. 
I  say,  besides  the  efficacy  of  asking  in  faith,  and  the 
mere  exercise  of  pious  feelings;  these  are  the  two 
things  in  the  exertions  of  Christians,  before  alluded 
to,  which  are  not  included  in  attention;  and  these 
are  the  only  two  things  comprehended  in  the  means 
of  grace  which  are  not  resolvable  into  truth  and  the 
means  of  getting  truth  before  the  mind.  The  prayer 
of  faith  certainly  obtains  divine  influences  for  our- 


136  MEANS  OP  GRACE.         [lECT.  VI  | 

selves  and  others;  and  there  are  appointed  ways  o 
improving  our  graces  by   exercise,    (for   instance,   ii' 
thanksgiving  and  praise,)  much  in  the  same  way  a 
you  improve  soldiers  by  exercise,  or  confirm  any  o 
your  habits  by  indulgence.     Yet  even  in  these  twc 
cases,  so  far  as  the  affections  are  improved,  it  is  dont' 
through  the  instrumentality  of  truth.     The  sancti 
fied  affections  which  follow  the  prayer  of  faith  (oi' 
Hooking^^  to  Christ,)  follow  from  transforming  viewi, 
of  him;    and  the  exercises  by  which  the  heart  is  im- 
proved, owe  their  effect  to  the  instrumentality  of  the 
truths  contemplated. 

To  these  remarks  I  may  add,  that  the  divine  Spir- 
it, except  in  his  sanctifying  influence,  does  no  more 
than  carry  in  the  truth  and  lay  it  before  the  eye  of 
the  mind,  and  apply  it  to  that  individual  conscience. 
For  it  has  been  proved  that  there  is  no  intermediate 
influence  between  an  enlightening  and  a  sanctifying 
one, — between  that  which  addresses  motives  to  an 
old  disposition,  and' that  which  creates  or  strength- 
ens a  new  one.  And  even  in  his  sanctifying  influ- 
ence, so  far  as  the  affections  are  concerned,  the  ef- 
fect is  wrought  by  the  instrumentality  of  truth. 

Dropping  then  from  our  calculation  the  efficacy  of 
the  prayer  of  faith,  and  the  appointed  ways  of  im- 
proving our  graces  by  exercise,  (so  far  as  these  are 
exceptions;) — laying  out  of  view  also  the  motions  of 
the  body,  and  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the  Spirit; 
and  all  that  is  contained  in  means  or  efforts,  human 
or  divine,  for  the  salvation  of  ourselves  or  others,  is 
comprehended  in  truth,  and  the  various  ways  of  pre- 
senting truth  to  the  mind.  Absolutely  the  whole  as 
relates  to  the  unregenerate,  (except  mere  bodily  mo- 
tions,) is  contained  in  these  two  things.  This  class 
offer  no  prayer  of  faith,  they  partake  of  no  sanctify- 
ing influence,  they  have  no  graces  to  improve  by 
exercise;  and  as  their  hearts  cannot  be  made  better 
till  they  are  made  new,  nothing  can  be  done  for 


LECT.    VII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  137 

them  but  to  carry  to  their  minds  a  deep  conviction 
of  truth. 

Now  all  the  truth  ever  intended  for  the  salvation 
of  men  is  contained  in  the  word  of  God.  Nothing 
new  is  revealed  by  the  Spirit.  The  exhibitions  in 
creation  and  providence  only  confirm  and  illustrate 
Bible  truths.  The  word  may  be  regarded  as  the  ep- 
itome of  all  the  manifestations  of  God  to  man. 
With  the  exceptions  then  already  made,  every  ques- 
tion relating  to  the  means  of  grace,  and  to  efforts, 
human  or  divine,  for  the  salvation  of  men,  may  be 
reduced  to  these  two;  What  is  the  use  of  the  word 
of  God?  and  how  is  it  conveyed  to  the  mind?  In  at- 
tempting to  illustrate  these  two  points,  I  shall  treat, 

I.  Of  the  use  of  the  word  generally; 

II.  Of  its  use  to  the  unregenerate  in  particular; 

III.  Of  the  means  and  influences  by  which  it  is 
conveyed  to  their  minds; 

IV.  Of  its  success  in  accomplishing,  as  the  text 
suggests,  every  end  which  God  designed. 

I.     Of  the  use  of  the  word  generally. 

It  has  always  been  the  received  opinion  that  the 
word  of  God  is  the  grand  instrument  of  converting 
the  world;  and  this  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  tes- 
timony of  facts.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact,  that  where 
the  Gospel  is  preached  statedly  and  faithfully,  more 
are  converted  than  where  it  is  seldom  or  loosely 
preached.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact,  that  when  God  in- 
tends to  bring  men  to  salvation,  (the  only  salvation 
reyea/ec?,)  He  first  places  them  under  the  sound  of 
the  Gospel,  leads  them  to  attend  on  the  means  of  in- 
struction, awakens  their  attention  to  the  truths  of  his 
word,  causes  them  ordinarily  to  be  pressed  by  the 
importunities  of  others,  increases  by  these  means 
their  conviction  of  truth,  and  after  all  this  changes 
their  hearts.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact,  that  as  Christians 
grow  in  knowledge  they  grow  in  grace;  that  as  a 


138  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    VIj 

realizing  view  of  truth  increases,  their  holy  affec 
tions  increase.  ] 

We    can    see    no   instrumentality    in    truth   t( 
produce  the  new  disposition.     Why  then  should  } 
thing  intervene  which  has  no  influence?    Why  no: 
act    alone   without  that    idle   attendant?      These 
questions   would   be   unanswerable   if    there    was 
nothing  to  be  done  but  to  produce  the  new  disposi- 
tion: but  there  are  views  and  affections  and  acts  of  the 
will  and  motions  of  the  body  to  be  produced,  or  the 
disposition  is  altogether  useless.     In  the  productiori 
of  all  these,  both  in  their  beginning  and  in  all  the 
degrees  of  their  increase,  truth,  where  it  finds  the 
disposition  favourable,  has  the  proper  influence  of  a 
second  cause  or  instrument.     Every  consideration 
which  is  apprehended  by  the  understanding  or  felt 
by  the   heart,  every  object  of  holy  affection,  every 
motive  which  controls  the  will  and  impels  to  action, 
is  found  in  truth  alone.     This  is  the  essential  and 
imniediate  instrument  by  which  all  right  views  and 
feelings,  all  correct  acts  of  choice  and  of  life  are 
produced,  and  by  which  a  rational  kingdom  is  mov- 
ed and  governed.l  if  God  is  to  preside  over  a  ra- 
tional kingdom,  h^  must  move  it  exclusively  by  the 
instrumentality  of  motives.     To  act  without  mo- 
tives, is  to  be  a  madman  or  a  machine.!    To  love 
or    hate  without   an  object,  is    a  contradiction  in 
terms.     Should  God's  renewing  influence  pass  over 
a    mind  wholly  destitute  of   knowledge,    nothing 
would  he  felt,  no  affections  would  be  excited,  noth- 
ing   sensible    would   follow.       Although  therefore 
truth  cannot  create  the    disposition,  nor  efficiently 
cause  even  the  affections,  there  is  good  reason  why 
the  power  which  produces  these  effects  should  al- 
ways accompany  the  truth,  and  (the  case  of  infants 
and  heathens  being  out  of  question,)  should  never 
act  without  it.     Why  should  divine  power  produce 
a  disposition  to  feel   where   no  feelings  can  follow? 
or  incline  the  heart  to  love  where  no  object  is  found? 


LECT.    VII.]  MEANS    OP    GRACE.  139 

There  are  good  reasons  also  why  truth  should 
come  to  men  through  the  medium  of  language  and 
in  the  form  of  a  written  ivord.  It  might  have  been 
communicated  immediately,  as  it  was  to  the  first  cre- 
ated angel  and  to  inspired  men;  but  in  the  display  of 
truth,  both  in  heaven  and  earth,  God  has  principally 
made  use  of  second  causes,  as  being  better  calcu- 
lated to  furnish  the  evidence  which  is  adapted  to  the 
government  of  rational  creatures.  The  whole  sys- 
tem of  matter  is  a  system  of  second  causes,  forming 
a  visible  chain  leading  into  the  secrecy  of  the  First 
Cause,  and  disclosing  an  agency  which  otherwise 
might  have  been  forever  concealed.  So  necessary 
have  those  tangible  links  been  deemed,  that  even 
in  cases  where  God  has  exerted  his  power  miracul- 
ously and  immediately,  he  has  generally  made  use  of 
visible  antecedents  to  connect  the  effect  more  evi- 
dently with  his  own  power;  as  in  the  case  of  Moses' 
rod,  the  trumpets  at  Jericho,  the  pitchers  and  lamps 
of  Gideon's  army,  the  washing  of  Naaman  in  Jor- 
dan, the  extension  of  Elisha's  body  over  the  Shun- 
ammite's  son,  the  salt  cast  into  the  fountain,  the 
clay  applied  to  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man,  and  many 
other  instances  which  might  be  mentioned.  So  in- 
stead of  conveying  truth  to  mankind  by  immediate 
revelation,  accompanied  with  silent  efforts  of  sanc- 
tifying power,  he  has  chosen  to  send  it  to  them  in 
the  languages  of  men,  in  the  shape  of  a  written 
word,  and  to  form  a  visible  chain  of  prophets,  apos- 
tles, ministers,  and  ordinances;  not  only  because  this 
mode  was  better  adapted  on  many  other  accounts  to 
the  purposes  of  a  moral  government,  but  that  he 
might  manifest  more  distinctly  the  source  of  the 
power  which  converts  the  world.  Thus  the  word 
with  which  our  Saviour  composed  the  winds  and 
healed  the  sick,  discovered  whence  the  power  pro- 
ceeded, more  than  if  he  had  done  the  same  by  a  si- 
lent influence.     If  then  the  whole  body  of  truth  by 


140  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  [lECT.    VIJ 

which  the  heart,  the  will,  and  the  life  are  to  be  in 
fluenced,  is  conveyed  only  through  a  written  word 
and  by  the  ordinances  instituted  to  impress  tha 
word  on  the  mind,  there  can,  in  an  ordinary  way 
be  no  holiness,  no  salvation,  without  an  attendanc< 
on  the  means  of  grace. 

Now  the  word  of  God  may  be  considered  as  ac 
ting  on  the  mind  at  three  different  stages;  viz.  before 
regeneration,  at  the  time  of  conversion,  and  in  the 
progress  of  sanctification.  By  attending  to  its  ef 
fects  at  these  several  stages  we  shall  discover  that 
though  the  difference  between  a  sinner  the  momen 
before  and  the  moment  after  regeneration  is  pro 
duced  by  immediate  power,  yet  the  difference  beJ 
tvveen  a  convicted  sinner  and  an  established  Chris^ 
tian,  much  more  between  a  heathen  and  an  estab 
lished  Christian, is  in  a  great  measure  brought  aboul 
by  the  instrumentality  of  the  word.  "How — shall 
they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed: 
and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they 
have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a 
preacher? — So  then  faith  cometh  by  hearing  and 
hearing  by  the  word  of  God. "^ 

The  use  of  the  word  before  regeneration  I  shall 
consider  under  the  second  head.  Let  us  now  ex- 
amine its  influence  at  the  time  of  conversion  and 
in  the  progress  of  sanctification. 

At  the  time  of  conversion  the  truths  of  the  word 
are  the  instruments  of  producing  all  the  thoughts 
which  fill  the  understanding,  all  the  motions  of  the 
heart,  the  will,  and  the  body;  and  are  thus  the  in-l 
struments  of  producing  the  whole  of  that  turning 
which  the  term  imports.  A  manifestation  of  God 
to  the  soul  is  as  much  the  instrument  of  producing 
love  to  God,  as  light  is  the  instrument  of  vision.  A 
manifestation  of  sm  is  equally  the  instrument  of  pro- 
ducing repentance;    and  a  manifestation  of  Christy] 

*  Rom.  X.  14;  17. 


[lECT.    VII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  141 

asmuch  the  instrument  of  producing /ai^A:  for  with- 
out the  presentation  of  the  objects  the  affections 
pould  not  exist.  Hence  by  a  very  significant  figure 
:he  word  of  God  is  called  "^Ae  sword  of  the  Spirit,^^ 
and  is  said  to  be  "quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper 
han  any  two  edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the 
ilividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints 
and  marrow."*  If  your  heart  is  pierced  with  a 
word,  you  feel  not  the  hand  which  wields  it  but 
he  sword  only.  So  in  conversion  the  soul  feels 
(lot  the  Spirit  but  only  the  truths  of  the  word. — 
There  is  however  this  difference  in  the  two  cases; 
in  one  instance  the  power  is  applied  to  the  heart  to 
j)pen  a  passage  for  the  word,  in  the  other  it  is  ap- 
plied to  the  sword  to  open  a  passage  for  itself.  But 
in  both  cases  the  instrument  alone  is  felt.  A  pene- 
rating  sense  of  truth,  together  with  those  affections, 
leterminations,  and  actions  which  follow  in  view  of 
ruth,  comprehends  the  whole  effect  of  regeneration. 
:legeneration  is  the  formation  of  the  eye,  but  light 
3  necessary  for  actual  vision.  That  conversion  is 
ihus  brought  about  by  the  instrumentality  of  the 
i^ord,  is  expressly  asserted:  "The  law  of  the  Lord 
5  perfect,  converting  the  soul.^^  On  the  same  prin- 
iple  they  who  preach  the  word  are  said  to  convert 
len:  "If  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth  and  one 
onvert  him,  let  him  know  that  he  which  converted  a 
inner  from  the  errour  of  his  way,  shall  save  a  soul 
fom  death. "f 

Hitherto  I  have  made  a  distinction  between  re- 
eneration  and  conversion;!  but  it  must  be  allowed 
lat  the  former  is  sometimes  taken  in  so  broad  a 
!3nse   as   to   include  both;   and  then  the    general 

;*  Eph.  vi.  17.     Heb.  iv,  12.     Rev.  i.  16.  and  ii.  12. 
f  Ps.  xix.  7.     James  v.  19,  20. 

t  The  same  distinction  was  generally  made  by  the  old  Calvinistic  di- 
nes.    By  regeneration  they  meant  the  implantation  of  a  new  principle 
disposition,  to  serve  as  the  foundation  of  new  exercises;  byconversion, 
9  actual  turning  to  God  in  the  exercises  which  followed. 

J3 


142  MEANS  OF  GRACE.         [lECT.  VII 

change,  bearing  the  name  of  regeneration,  is  said  td 
be  brought  about  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  word 
"Of  his  own  will  begat   he  us  with  the  word  oftruth,^ 
"Being  horn   again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  o: 
incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God.^^     For  in  Jesus 
Christ    I   have  begotten  you  through  the  Gospel.^^- 
The  same  idea  is  conveyed  in  other  forms  of  speech: 
"Is  not  my  word  as  a  fire — and  like  a  hammer  that 
breaketh  the   rock  in  pieces?"  "The  words  that  I 
speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life."^ 
As  a  new  living  man  is  a  man  with  new  feelings  and 
actions,  so  by  a  new  heart,  in  the  fullest  sense  Oj 
that   phrase,   is  meant   a  heart  with  new  affections. 
When  men  are  commanded  to  make  to  themselves  nevj 
hearts,  to  circumcise  and  purify  their  hearts,^  noth 
ing  more  nor  less  is  meant  than  that  they  should  ex- 
ercise new  affections.     Regeneration  or  the  produc 
tion  of  a  new  heart,  understood  in  this  sense,  is  cer- 
tainly accomplished  by  the  instrumentality  of  the 
word. 

By  the  same  instrumentality  are  produced  all  the 
new  affections,  volitions,  and  actions  of  the  Chris- 
tian in  the  progress  of  sanctification.  As  truth  be- 
C^omes  more  clearly  understood,  the  heart  acts  more 
vigorously  towards  it.  Thus  while  in  the  "glass" 
of  the  word  we  behold  "the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  we 
"are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to 
glory ,"J — much  in  the  same  way  as  men  are  improv- 
ed by  example.  Hence  a  very  distinct  emphasis  is 
laid  on  the  word  as  the  instrument  of  sanctification. 
"Christ — loved  the  Church  and  gave  himself  for  it, 
that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  wash- 
ing of  water  by  the  word.''''  "Now  ye  are  clean 
through  the  word  which  I  have  spoken  unto  you." 
"Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth,  thy  word  is  truth." 

*  Jer.  xxiii.  29.    John  vi.  63.  1  Gor.  iv.  15.     James  i.  18.     1  Pet.  i.  £3. 
t  Deul.  X.  16.    Jer.  iv.  4.    Ezek.  xviii.  31.    James  iv.  8. 
X  2  Cor.  iii.  18.  with  1  Cor.  xiii.  12. 


LECT.    VII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  143 

"Ye  received  it  not  as  the  word  of  men,  but  (as  it 
is  in  truth,)  the  word  of  God,  which  effectually  work- 
cth  also  in  you  that  believe."  Hence  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  word  is  compared  to  planting  and  water- 
ing seed  in  the  earth,  and  they  who  preach  it  are 
called  fellow  labourers  with  God:  '*I  have  planted, 
Apollos  watered,  but  God  gave  the  increase. — We 
are  labourers  together  with  God:  ye  are  God's  hus- 
bandry."* 

II.  I  am  to  consider  the  use  of  the  word  to  the 
unregenerate.  How  the  truth  is  instrumental  ajter 
the  new  disposition  is  implanted,  is  now  apparent. 
But  it  may  be  asked,  what  is  the  use  of  communi- 
cating knowledge  before,  when  it  can  excite  no  holy 
affections,  especially  as  it  is  not  expected  to  have 
any  influence  in  altering  the  disposition?  Why  is 
the  sinner  commanded,  entreated,  and  even  convict- 
ed, when  it  is  known  that  none  of  the  considerations 
suggested  will  move  his  heart?  Why  not  reserve 
the  motives  till  the  disposition  is  renewed?  In 
other  words,  why  pour  truth  upon  the  mind  before 
the  heart  is  disposed  to  embrace  it?  In  reply  to 
this  I  observe,  that  even  in  cases  where  it  is  foreseen 
that  the  sinner  will  resist  the  light  and  perish,  this 
experiment  will  illustrate  his  hardness  and  inexcus- 
ableness,  and  display  the  condescension  and  mercy 
of  God.  The  truths  exhibited  are  only  an  appeal  of 
one  who  requires  a  reasonable  service,  to  the  reason 
and  conscience  of  a  moral  agent,  who  in  the  ser- 
vice required  must  be  guided  by  light,  and  must 
exert  understanding,  will,  and  aftections  towards 
the  identical  objects  which  the  truths  present.  It 
is  the  moral  Governour  bringing  forward  his  just 

*  John  XV.  3.  and  xvii.  17.      1  Cor.  iii.  6,  9.      Eph.  v.  25;  26.     1  The*. 


144  MEANS  OF  GRACE,        [lECT.  Vll.  i 

claims,  disclosing  the  obligations  of  the  sinner,  and 
offering  him  life  on  condition  of  his  doing  what  no- 
thing but  his  obstinacy  prevents.  This  proceeding 
will  convince  the  universe  that  he  was  the  consist- 
ent, righteous  moral  Governour  and  the  merciful 
Father,  and  that  the  sinner's  opposition  was  most 
unreasonable,  and  his  ruin  self-induced.  This  pub- 
lic display  of  character  and  of  principles  is  all  the  end 
that  can  be  answered  where  regeneration  does  not 
follow;  and  this  end  will  be  answered  where  it  does 
follow.  But  in  the  latter  case  a  further  purpose  is 
accomplished  by  the  antecedent  knowledge.  A 
clear  discernment  of  truth  before  regeneration,  pre- 
pares the  sinner  for  greater  humility,  love,  and  grati- 
tude, and  for  more  full  acknowledgments  to  Christ 
through  all  his  future  existence.  Even  in  the  pro- 
cess of  sanctification,  it  is  God's  usual  method  by  dis- 
coveries of  truth  to  prepare  the  way  for  stronger  ex- 
ercises of  repentance  and  gratitude,  before  he  excites 
these  affections.  The  only  difference  is,  in  the  pres- 
ent instance  he  prepares  the  way  before  he  gives  the 
new  disposition.  But  in  both  cases  the  same  reason 
exists  why  conviction  of  truth  should  precede  the 
affections.  The  difficulty  which  has  been  raised 
about  his  commanding,  urging,  and  entreating  sin- 
ners to  act  before  he  disposes  them,  will  vanish 
when  the  nature  and  sources  of  the  necessary  an- 
tecedent knowledge  are  considered.  What  sinners 
w^ant  is  a  just  view  of  their  sin  and  ruin  and  need 
of  a  Saviour,  drawn,  as  it  necessarily  must  be,  from 
a  discovery  of  God,  his  law,  and  the  claims  which 
the  moral  Governour  has  upon  them.  These  claims, 
it  is  to  be  remembered,  are  not  weakened  by  their 
dependance  on  God  for  holiness,  nor  yet  by  their 
indisposition  to  obey.  If  their  indisposition  im- 
paired his  claims,  they  never  could  reasonably  be 
required  to  resist  their  inclinations,  nor  arraigned 
for  following  them,  and  then  all  moral  government 
would  be  at  an  end.      Acting   as  moral  Governour 


LECT.    VII,]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  l45 

and  treating  with  moral  agents,  he  makes  there- 
fore no  account  of  himself  as   the  main-spring  of 
motion,  but  addresses  them,  whatever  be  their  char- 
acter, as  distinct  and  complete  agents,  and  holds 
the  same  language  with  them  that  one  man  would 
hold   with   another   whom   he   wished    to   reclaim. 
There  is  no  correct  display,  nor  even  exercise,  of  a 
moral  government  upon  any  other  principle.     Such 
then  are  the  claims  of  the  moral  Governour.     Now 
if  the  foundation  of  all  just  ideas  of  guilt  lies  in 
a  right  understanding  of  these  claims,  it  is  necessary 
for  the  conviction  of  sinners  that  their  relation   to 
the  moral  Governour  should  be  laid  open:  and  this 
can  be  done  only  by  his  coming  out  with  the  full 
assertion  of  all  his  authority  and  rights.     In  order 
to  throw  himself  upon  the  view  of  any  individual, 
he  must  come  to  him  with  all  his  demands,  and 
without  making  any  allowance  for  dependance  or 
indisposition,  must  reason  and  expostulate  with  him 
as  man  with  man.      The  moment  that  the  propriety 
of  this  course  is   practically  denied  by  the  moral 
Governour  himself,   his  claims  are  withdrawn  from 
the  view  of  men,  and  the  foundation  of  all  just  con- 
viction is  removed.     Let  it  be  considered  also  that 
the  primary  and  essential  instruments  by  which  the 
moral  Governour  works  in  the  management   of  a 
rational  kingdom,  are  reason  and   motives.     It  be- 
hooves him  therefore,  acting  in   this  character,  to 
spread  before  the  sinner  all  the  motives  which  ought 
to  influence  a  rational  mind;    such  as  the  character 
of  the  Lawgiver,  the  nature  of  the  obedience   re- 
quired,  his   own  obligations    to   obey,  the   evil   of 
transgression,  and  the  sanctions  of  the  law.      This 
is  the  only  proper  way  to  treat  a  rational  being. 
Thus   you   would    deal   with   a   rebellious   servant 
whom  you  wished  to  reduce  to  obedience.     You 
would  set  before  him  the  justice  of  your  claims,  the 
evil  of  his  conduct,  and  all  the  reasons  for  submis- 
sion which  you  could  produce.      It  was  only  pursu- 
*13 


146  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  [lECT.  VIT. 

ing  the  same  principle  a  little  further,  than  when 
God  undertook  to  bring  back  a  revolted  race  to  his 
service,  and  to  salvation  through  a  Redeemer,  he 
not  only  exposed  to  their  view  their  guilt,  ruin,  just 
condemnation,  and  helplessness,  and  thus  made  "the 
law"  a  "schoolmaster  to  bring"  them  "unto  Christ;" 
but  laid  before  them  the  character,  offices,  and 
work  of  the  Mediator,  the  terms  of  salvation  through 
him,  and  their  obligations  to  return  in  this  appointed 
way.  Such  an  exposition  of  his  character  and 
government,  and  the  way  of  restoration,  with  all 
the  circumstances  of  their  case,  (made  by  a  course 
of  conduct  adapted  to  them  as  subjects  of  moral 
go\ er nment, )  fuimishes  the  very  Jcnoivledge  they  need  to 
fit  them  for  deep  repentance  and  admiring  views  of 
Christ,  and  to  bring  them  to  ascribe  all  their  salva- 
tion to  him  as  soon  as  their  hearts  are  renewed. 

Peculiar  advantages  are  gained  by  making  these 
discoveries  before  regeneration.  The  exhibition  of 
such  a  government  and  such  a  way  of  salvation  to  an 
opposing  heart,  is  calculated  to  try  the  strength  of 
that  opposition,  and  to  produce  upon  the  sinner  a 
lasting  impression  of  the  greatness  of  the  mercy  and 
power  which  redeemed  him.  The  inveteracy  of  his 
opposition  becomes  more  apparent  by  his  unavailing 
struggles  to  subdue  himself  He  has  an  opportunity 
to  contemplate  the  wretchedness  of  his  prison,  not 
with  the  look  of  a  passing  stranger,  but  with  the 
sensations  of  a  prisoner  himself,  and  while  entertain- 
ing little  or  no  hope  of  escape, — to  view  his  native 
misery,  not  with  the  ken  of  an  angel,  but  in  some 
measure  with  the  experienced  eye  of  the  damned. — 
Thus  he  collects  a  deep  sense  of  many  truths,  not 
otherwise  learned,  which  he  carries  with  him  into  a 
gracious  state;  and  they  will  help  him  to  look  back 
through  all  eternity,  with  deeper  humility,  wonder, 
and  gratitude,  "to  the  hole  of  the  pit  whence"  he 
was  "digged."  Thus  the  eyes  of  sinners  are  opened 
that  God  may  perform  the  great  work  of  restoration 


LECT.    VII.]  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  147 

full  in  their  view,  and  lead  them  to  see  the  whole 
wondrous  process  step  by  step;  that  however  others 
may  deny  his  agency  in  this  work,  there  may  be  as 
many  witnesses  as  there  are  converted  sinners. — - 
Thus  they  are  brought  to  Zion,  not  like  blind  ma- 
chines, but  like  rational  beings,  and  are  illuminated 
before  the  passage,  are  illuminated  in  the  passage,  and 
are  illuminated  after  the  passage,  that  they  may  make 
every  stage  with  their  eyes  open,  and  see  all  that  is 
done  for  them;  that  they  may  first  distinctly  survey 
the  dreary  scene  without  the  walls,  and  compare  it 
with  the  beauty  and  glory  within;  in  other  words, 
that  they  may  trace  the  workings  of  their  own 
minds  before  and  after,  and  estimate  the  greatness 
of  the  change,  and  know  the  power  and  mercy  by 
which  it  was  produced, — that  entering  on  the  new 
life  with  a  deep  view  of  their  native  guilt,  ruin,  and 
helplessness,  they  may  begin  their  course  with  more 
humility,  dependance,  and  gratitude,  with  clearer 
apprehensions  of  the  sovereignty  of  grace,  with 
higher  admiration  of  all  the  provisions  of  the  Gospel, 
and  with  minds  sufficiently  enlightened  to  ascribe 
all  the  glory  of  their  salvation  to  Christ. 

The  necessity  o^  some  knowledge  before  regenera- 
tion will  be  set  in  a  strong  light  by  adverting  to  the 
case  of  a  heathen  without  divine  knowledge.'*  Were 
such  a  one  to  receive  a  new  heart  it  could  be  of  no 
manner  of  use,  except  so  far  as  regards  his  feelings 
and  conduct,  very  imperfectly  regulated,  towards 
his  fellow-men.  He  cannot  love  God,  for  he  never 
heard  of  him;  he  cannot  repent  of  sin,  for  he  has  no 
knowledge  of  the  divine  law;  he  cannot  believe  in 
Christ,  for  he  knows  not  that  such  a  being  exists. 
Before  the  new  life  is  imparted  a  body  of  truth  must 
be  formed  in  the  understanding,  to  prepare  the  way 
for  Christian  exercises  as  soon  as  the  heart  is  re- 
newed.    This  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  vision 

*  Whether  this  supposition  accords  with  facts  is  of  no  consequence.  The 
aim  is  not  history  but  illustration. 


148  MEANS  OF  GRACE.        [lECT.  VII. 

of  Ezekiel.*     It  wouM  have  been  to  no  purpose  to 
have  imparted  life  to  the  dry  bones  in  their  dis- 
jointed state.      They  could  not  have  seen  for  they 
had  no  eye;  they  could  not  have  heard,  for  they  had 
no  ear;  they  could  not  have  spoken,  for  they  had  no 
mouth;  they  could  not  have  moved,  for  they  had 
neither  joint  nor  muscle.     Life  would  have  been 
utterly  lost  upon  them.      Before  the  inspiration  of 
breath  the  bones  must  come  together,  bone  to  his 
bone,  the  sinews  and  flesh  must  come  up  upon  them, 
and   the   skin  must  cover   thenr  above;    and   thus 
human  bodies  must  be  organized  to  exercise  the  func- 
tions of  living  men.     A  similar  preparation  is  made 
before  the  infusion  of  life  and  breath  in  the  natural 
birth.      A  body  is  first  formed  and  fitted  to  exer- 
cise the  living  functions,  and  then  life  and  breath 
are  inspired.      The   necessity   of  a  correspondent 
preparation  for  the  second  birth  is  clearly  suffcrested 
by  analogy.    Or  to  vary  the  illustration,  if  you  form  a 
design  to  convert  a  dungeon  into  a  convenient  room 
lor  business,  you  first  store  it  with  furniture   and 
admit   the    light.      Or  to    bring  a  case  still  more 
m  point,  God  in  the   beginning  created  the  lis:ht 
before  he  formed  the  eye. 

Some  knowledge  antecedent  to  regeneration  is 
th^  necessary.  And  it  must  be  more  than  barely 
sufficient  to  distinguish  a  man  from  a  heathen,^ 
more  indeed  than  any  sinner  in  a  Gospel  land  will 
acquire  in  a  state  of  stupidity.  One  may  live  with 
the  Bible  in  his  hands  all  his  days  without  a  realiz- 
ing sense  of  a  single  truth,  and  with  no  understand- 
mg  of  several  things  most  important  to  be  known 
before  the  new  birth,  such  as  the  enmity  and  stub- 
bornness  of  the  heart,  his  desert  of  eternal  punish- 
ment,  his  helplessness  and  perishing  need  of  a  Sav- 
iour: and  should  he  suddenly  receive  a  new  heart  in 


Ezek.  xxxvii.  1—10. 


LECT.    VII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  149 

that  condition,  he  would  probably  never  to  the  day  of 
his  death  possess  so  deep  a  sense  of  the  native  ruin  of 
man  and  the  sovereignty  of  grace,  nor  give  so  much 
glory  to  Christ,  as  though  his  antecedent  knowl- 
edge had  been  greater.  He  would  be  likely,  (es- 
pecially if  surrounded  by  people  as  ignorant  as  him- 
self, )  to  pass  through  life  with  very  indistinct  ideas 
of  the  Gospel  way  of  salvation,  and  never  extend  a 
view  beyond  the  outlines  of  Christianity.  Such 
Christians  we  must  charitably  believe  there  are, — 
converted  with  little  more  knowledge  than  is  com- 
mon to  other  stupid  sinners;  and  they  labour  through 
life  with  very  confused  ideas  of  the  ruin  and  help- 
lessness of  man,  the  sovereignty  of  grace,  and  all  the 
distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  If  such  are 
received  as  brethren  they  ought  to  be  contented, 
and  not  condemn  the  views  of  others  who  have  been 
favoured  with  more  deep  and  abasing  discoveries 
than  themselves. 

It  is  one  of  the  established  laws  of  the  universe 
that  creatures  should  acquire  their  knowledge  grad- 
ually and  not  all  at  once.  It  does  not  comport 
with  ^this  law,  (nor  yet  with  another  by  which  it 
is  fixed  that  our  sense  of  things  shall  be  drawn  from 
experience^)  that  the  deficiency  of  antecedent 
knowledge  should  be  supplied  by  sudden  commu- 
nications at  the  time  of  regeneration.  T^^^f  ^^^P 
view  of  native  guilt  and  stubbornness  which  is  nec- 
essary to  do  honor  to  Christ  and  sovereign  grace, 
must  be  obtained  beforehand,  and  will  never  be 
obtained  in  a  state  of  stupidity.  The  sinner  must 
be  awakened  and  convicted  for  a  considerable  time, 
before  he  will  know  enough  of  his  condition  and 
necessities  to  ascribe  all  the  glory  of  his  salvation 
to  Christ.  And  till  he  is  prepared  to  do  this,  in 
an  ordinary  way  God  will  not  change  his  heart. 

This  then  is  the  preparation  which  commonly 
precedes  the  new  birth.     It  consists  entirely  in  a 


^^^  MEANS  OF  GRACE.       [lECT.  VII. 

conviction  of  truth,  and  of  course  is  brought  about 
by  the  immediate  instrumentality  of  the  word  and 
the  means  appointed  to  impress  that  word  on  the 
mmd.  Here  the  work  of  preparation  ends.  This 
IS  the  boundary  of  all  that  can  be  done  for  unre- 
geiierate  men.  The  preparation  does  not  improve 
their  hearts.  The  bodies  in  the  valley  of  vision 
were  as  dead  after  their  organization  as  before. 
Life  was  mfused  by  the  wind  which  afterwards 
breathed  through  the  valley.  And  in  this  case  un- 
der consideration,  ^'Neither  is  he  that  planteth  any 
to^,  neither  he  that  watereth,  but  God  that  giveth 
the  increase:'^  The  ancient  dispute  between  Abra- 
ham and  the  rich  man  in  torment  whether  the  most 
powerful  array  of  motives  could  change  the  heart, 
has  convinced  thousands  in  every  generation,  and 
me  among  the  rest,  that  they  who  for  twenty  or 
thirty  years  can  withstand  Moses  and  the  Prophets, 
would  not  "be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead."t 

*  I  Cor.  m.  7.  f  Luke  xvi.  19—31. 


LECTURE    VIII- 


SAME    SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 


ISAIAH    Iv.   11. 

so  SHALL  M«  WORD  BE  THAT  GOETH  FORTH  OUT  OF  MT  MOUTH; 
IT  SHALL  NOT  RKTUR^f  UNTO  ME  VOID,  BUT  IT  SHALL  ACCOMPLISH 
THAT  WHICH  I  PLEASE,  AND  IT  SHALL  PROSPER  IN  THE  THING 
WHERETO   I   SENT    IT. 

III.  I  AM  to  treat  of  the  means  and  influences 
by  which  the  word  is  conveyed  to  the  minds  of  the 
unregenerate. 

It  is  now  ascertained  that  all  that  can  be  done 
for  the  unregenerate  by  their  own  exertions,  or  the 
efforts  of  others,  or  the  means  of  grace,  or  the  in- 
fluences of  the  Spirit,  (laying  out  of  account  the 
prayers  of  Christians  for  them,)  is  to  set  home  upon 
their  minds  the  truths  of  the  word.     The  question 
then  arises,  how  far  are  these  several  agents  and 
instruments  concerned  in  this  effect,  and  what  pro- 
portion of  the  effect  is  ascribable  to  a  natural   and 
what  to  a  supernatural  operation?     It  is  important 
to  know  how  to  estimate  both  our  dependance  on 
God  and  the  value  of  the  means  of  grace;  to  as- 
certain, on  the  one  hand,  how  far  we  are  beholden 
to  a  supernatural  influence,  and  to  what  extent  that 
influence  coincides  with  the  course  of  nature  and 


^^^  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    Vn! 

encourages  human  exertions;  and  on  the  other  hand 
^r.K  %"".?"'  ^"^  !'™^"  ^ff^^^s  ^'^  available,  anc 

within  ?^     ^  ^?'u°"'  ?^  '^'''  ^"d  ^f  th^  "^eanf 
within  their  reach  have  the  fairest  chance  for  sue- 

cess       But  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the  effect  aboui 

which  we   are  inquiring.      It   is  not  regeneration 

nor  conversion,  but  simply  the  conviction  of  the  nn^ 

This  effect  is  partly  natural  and  partly  super- 
natural Ihe  supernatural  influence,  though  not 
so  regular  in  its  operation  as  to  reduce  it  to  one  of 
the  laws  of  nature,  is  so  far  stated  and  coincident 
with  the  natural  order  as  greatly  to  encourage  hu- 
man exertions.  In  illustrating  these  ideas  wl  shall 
have  an  opportunity  to  contemplate  the  vast  impor- 
tance of  the  means  and  efforts  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed for  man.  ^ 

(1).     The  effect  is  partly  natural.     This  at  once 
brmgs  back  the  question,  how  far  the  exertions  of 
the  unregenerate  themselves,  and  the  efforts  of  others 
lor  them,  and  the  means  of  grace,  are  concerned 
m  conveying  truth  to  their  minds  in   a  natural  way. 
Now  it  ,s  manifest  that  all  the  ordinances  of  relig- 
ion address  truth  directly  to  their  eyes  or  ears,  ?n 
a  manner   perfectly   natural.      The    dispensations 
ot  providence  suggest  truth  to  their  minds  in  the 

fbout  by  no  oU;j;reMha„  un     rn.  .'Sl/Js  TloJeZT..  '^T^^ 
i;s  without  any  .j.ma/ interposition  of  God      Bu   the  suS^n  S^^  '^'^' 

cannot  be  accounted  for  in  this  w^vTnv  .^!.  o  1         <^hange,  certainly 
supernatural  can  be  conceivpd       Tf    i,i     !•'    ..     "?*  ^^^^^^  definition  of 

cerlainty,  and  scai'cdv  a  „rL        ?^  ''^^  Produces  by  ilself,  no  manner  of 
converted         «"'"ly  ^  presumpuon,  Ihat  one  of  the  whole  mass  will  be 


LECT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  153 

same  direct  way,  or  by  means  of  the  association  of 
ideas.  The  expositions  and  exhortations  of  others 
lay  before  them  the  instructions  and  motives  con- 
tained in  truth.  Their  own  exertions,  (except  the 
mere  motions  of  the  body,)  are  all  comprehended  in 
the  single  word  attention, — attention  to  truth  and 
to  the  means  appointed  to  convey  truth  to  the  mind. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  an  effort  of  the  mind  to 
fix  its  eye  on  truth,  much  like  the  effort  of  the  nat- 
ural eye  to  adjust  itself  to  an  object,  and  to  pry  if 
the  object  is  indistinct.  Without  this  efibrt  of  its 
own,  all  the  exertions  of  others  to  bring  truth  be- 
fore it  are  in  vain.  A  thousand  objects  may  be 
presented,  but  if  the  mind  shuts  its  eye,  or  turns  it 
another  way  it  is  all  to  no  purpose.  It  must  at- 
tend for  itself  or  it  will  never  see.  Even  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Spirit,  (such  influence  I  mean  as  is  af- 
forded to  the  unregenerate,)  if  it  could  be  exerted 
without  fixing  the  attention,  would  infuse  no  light, 
would  produce  no  effect.  Every  ray  of  light  must 
enter  through  the  eye  of  the  mind,  and  except 
flashes  sometimes  produced  by  more  immediate 
power,  must  enter  while  the  eye  is  purposely  direct- 
ed towards  the  object. 

Thus  far  the  process  is  altogether  natural;  and 
according  to  the  laws  of  nature  the  effect  would  be 
proportionate  to  the  human  exertions  within  and 
without,  and  greater  or  less  according  to  the  chan- 
nels through  which  the  truth  was  conveyed,  and 
to  the  means  employed  to  propel  it  through.  There 
are  different  channels  by  which  natural  truths  are 
carried  to  the  mind  with  different  degrees  of  clear- 
ness, such  as  the  external  senses,  the  passions,  the 
imagination,  &c.  There  are  different  outward 
means  by  which  natural  truths  are  propelled  through 
these  channels  with  different  degrees  of  force,  such 
as  the  instructive  discourses  and  passionate  address- 
es of  others,  including  their  tones,  gestures,  &c. 
14 


154  MEANS  OF  GRACE.       [lECT.  VIII 

But  the  same  instruments  and  channels  by  whicF 
natural  truth  is  conveyed  to  the  mind  with  different 
degrees  of  force,  will  serve  for  the  conveyance  oi 
spiritual  truth  with  force  in  corresponding  propor- 
tions, though  weakened  in  all  its  degrees  by  the  re- 
sistance which  it  meets  within.  Again,  it  is  a  law 
of  nature  that  when  the  mind  turns  its  own  atten- 
tion to  natural  truth  it  discovers  it,  and  with  a  de- 
gree of  clearness  proportioned  to  the  intenseness  of 
its  application.  By  a  process  equally  natural  it  may 
discover  divine  truth,  with  a  distinctness  proportion- 
ate to  the  degree  of  its  attention,  except  so  far  as 
its  vision  is  perverted  by  prejudice, — allowing  also 
that  the  views  accompanying  every  degree  of  atten- 
tion will  be  greatly  obscured  by  unbelief.  Now  the 
mind  is  capable  of  different  degrees  of  attention, 
from  what  may  be  called  simple  reflection,  up 
through  the  ascending  grades  of  meditation,  study, 
and  that  agonizing  reach  of  soul  which  is  put  forth 
in  prayer.  In  no  other  sense  than  as  being  the 
highest  degree  of  attention  to  truth,  are  the  prayers  of 
the  unregenerate  of  any  use.  But  as  such,  when 
the  mind  is  serious  in  the  effort,  they  are  of  all 
means  the  most  powerful  to  impress  truth  upon  the 
conscience, — those  truths  in  particular  which  the 
soul  struggles  most  to  apprehend  in  prayer,  for  in- 
stance, those  which  respect  the  character  of  God, 
his  relations  to  us,  the  vileness,  danger,  and  ruin  of 
the  sinner,  and  his  helplessness,  made  more  and 
more  apparent  by  every  struggle  to  subdue  himself 
and  prevail  with  God.  That  divine  truth  should  be 
apprehended  in  proportion  to  these  several  degrees 
of  attention,  when  ignorance  or  special  prejudice 
does  not  prevent,  is  altogether  according  to  the  laws 
of  nature.  Further,  so  far  as  the  attention  is  turned 
to  divine  things  by  the  mere  influence  of  the  means 
of  grace,  or  the  exertions  of  others,  or  any  of  those 
causes  which  act  on  the  body  and  induce  melan- 


LECT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  3  55 

'choly,  as  sickness,  affliction,  evening,  autumn,  &,c. 
it  is  a  natural  effect.  Also,  the  anxious  feelings  of 
the  sinner  which  follow  in  view  of  truth,  appear  to 
be  as  much  a  natural  effect,  (allowing  the  truth  to 
be  first  set  home,)  as  the  sensation  produced  by  the 
touch  of  fire.     But, 

(2.)  After  natural  causes  have  spent  their  force, 
the  attention  is  by  no  means  sufficiently  roused,  nor 
the  truth  sufficiently  apprehended,  to  answer  the 
purpose.  There  is  occasion  for  the  interposition  of 
supernatural  power.  It  was  not  the  voice  of  Eze- 
kiel  but  the  power  of  God  which  organized  the 
bodies  in  the  valley;  and  it  is  the  office  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  ^'convince  the  world  of  sin.^^^  This 
supernatural  influence  answers  three  ends:  First,  to 
bring  truth  into  view  without  the  direct  aid  of  means. 
Awakening  thoughts  are  often  shot  into  the  mind  m 
a  way  not  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  principle  of 
association,  nor  from  any  of  the  known  laws  of  na- 
ture. Secondly,  to  disclose  the  sinner's  heart  to  his 
own  view,  and  thus  induce  a  self-application  of  the 
truths  which  come  in  from  the  word.  But  the  prin- 
cipal end  is,  thirdly,  to  counteract  that  unbelief 
which  blinds  the  mind  and  prevents  a  realizing  sense 
of  truth.  This  particular  act  of  God,  to  which  I 
intend  to  confine  my  attention,  brings  no  truth  be- 
fore the  mind,  but  only  causes  what  is  already  there 
to  be  realized.  How  this  is  done  we  can  by  no 
means  explain.  How  a  truth  which  already  lies  be- 
fore the  understanding  is  made  to  be  more  deeply 
realized,  by  an  influence  which  makes  no  altera- 
tion in  the  temper  of  the  heart,  we  can  no  more  con- 
ceive than  how  unimbodied  spirits  communicate 
their  thoughts  to  each  other.  But  it  appears  to  be 
something  entirely  different  from  merely  fixing  the 
attention.    The  attention  is  often  closely  fixed  while 

*  John  xvi.  8. 


156  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    VIII. 

no  realizing  sense  of  truth  is  obtained.  All  we  can 
say  is,  it  is  an  operation  which  counteracts  the 
blindness  of  unbelief  and  increases  the  liveliness 
of  speculative  faith.  Were  it  not  for  this  influence, 
in  its  more  imperceptible  operations,  unbelief  would 
probably  so  blind  the  mind  as  to  produce  a  total 
neglect  of  the  means  of  grace,  and  truth  w^ould  not 
be  sufficiently  realized  to  turn  the  attention  to  di- 
vine subjects,  and  give  opportunity  for  the  natural 
causes  which  have  been  mentioned  to  operate.  Un- 
belief would  so  strongly  guard  the  avenues  to  the  soul, 
that  ordinances,  dispensations  of  providence,  and 
human  eloquence,  (which  can  now  send  in  divine 
truth  by  a  natural  process,)  would  have  no  effect. 
And  should  this  divine  influence,  combined  with 
natural  causes,  produce  as  much  belief  and  atten- 
tion as  can  be  found  in  the  most  decent  of  the  una- 
wakened,  and  go  no  further,  the  man  would  die  gross- 
ly ignorant  of  many  things  important  to  be  known 
before  regeneration. 

This  operation  which  causes  truth  to  be  realized, 
is  wholly  the  work  of  God,  to  which  no  means  or 
human  exertions  from  without  can  reach  a  help- 
ing hand.  And  that  his  agency  may  be  the  more 
manifest,  he  does  not  always  cause  the  mind  to  real- 
ize what  is  laid  before  it,  even  when  its  attention  is 
highly  excited.     Still, 

(3.)  This  operation  is  so  far  stated  as  to  accom- 
modate itself  to  the  nature  of  man  and  encourage 
human  exertions.  When  motives  are  presented  and 
pressed  upon  the  mind  by  ministers  and  Christians, 
that  is  the  time  which  the  Spirit  ordinarily  takes  to 
carry  them  home  to  the  conscience.  Millions  of  in- 
stances, amounting  to  general  experience,  and  pro- 
ducing an  ordinary  calculation,  attest  this.  Such 
an  order  seems  established,  not  only  that  by  encour- 
aging human  instrumentality  the  best  affections  of 
the  heart  may  be  called  forth;  not  only  that  the  light 


LT:Ct.    Vllh]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  157 

which  comes  from  God  accompanied  witli  elTects  so 
;  glorious,  may  disclose  its  source  by  being  conveyed 
[  to  the  mind  through  visible  conductors;  but  that  men 
as  moral  agents  may  be  wrought  upon  in  a  way  con- 
formable to  their  nature, — in  a  way  as  nearly  coin- 
cident as  possible  with  the   natural  order.     And  it 
does  in  fact  very  nearly  coincide  with  that.     When 
truths,  naturally    adapted   to  interest   the  existing 
feelings  of  the  heart,  are  urged  by  others,  it  is  a  law 
of  nature  that  the  feelings  should  be  interested  by 
them.    In  the  present  case  unbelief  keeps  them  out, 
and  prevents  what  otherwise  would  be  a  natural  ef- 
fect.    It  is  only  necessary  that  divine  power  should 
counteract  this  unbelief,  and  then  the  word  and  or- 
dinances and  dispensations  of  God  and  the  appeals 
of  sacred   eloquence   will  naturally  move  the    soul. 
God  really  carries  sinners  through  the  whole  course 
of  conviction  by  the  power  of  motives,  as  in  every 
instance  of  moral  suasion,  except  that  he  counter- 
acts that  unbelief,   and  so  lets   the  motives  in  full 
upon  their   minds,  leaving  them  then    to  produce 
their  natural  effect.     But  it  is  moral   suasion   still. 
It  is  God  speaking  inwardly  to  the  mind.    Not  leav- 
ing the  motives  where  they  dropt  from  the  lips  of 
human  eloquence,  he  carries  them  in  and  lays  them 
before  the  eye  of  the  soul,  and  becomes  himself  the 
preacher  to  a  new  sense.     It  is   still   nothing  but 
truth  addressed  to  the  mind,  as  in  every  instance  of 
moral  suasion.     The  only  difference  is,  that  in  one 
case  he  gives  efficacy  to  truth  by  the  natural  oper- 
ations of  his  power,  in  a  way  altogether  stated;  in 
the  other,  by  the  supernatural,  and  in  a  less  stated 
manner.     But  even  in  that  which  is  less  stated  he 
acts  very  much  in  a  line  with  nature,   entering  the 
mind  by  the  ordinary  avenues,  and  pressing  natural 
causes  into  cooperation,  so  that  to  an  observer  the 
whole  appears   often  like  a  natural   effect.     Thus 
when  the  mind  is  softened  by  affliction,  or  put  in  a 
*14 


158 


MEANS  OF  GRACE.      [lECT.  VIII 

frame  for  serious  reflection  by  causes  operating  oi 
the  body,  or  by  a  view  of  danger,  that  is  the  tim< 
when  It  IS  most  likely  to  come  under  those  impres 
sions  which  but  for  unbelief  would  have  been  a  nat 
ural  effect.  It  is  upon  the  same  principle  that  tht 
operations  of  grace  after  conversion  are  regulated 
so  much  by  the  peculiarities  of  different  constitu- 
tions. Grace  sets  the  man  in  motion  as  nature  made! 
him,  only  in  pursuit  of  a  new  object.  Ardent  mem 
make  ardent  Christians,  and  timid  men  make  fearful 
Christians. 

Upon  the  same  principle  the  particular  kinds  of 
address  which  would  be  best  calculated  to  impress 
the  mind  were  there  no  unbelief,  and  therefore  no 
need  of  supernatural  interposition,  is  now  best  cal- 
culated to  impress  it.     God  more  generally  causes 
the  impression  which  depends  on  his  agency  to  bear 
much  the  same  proportion  to  the  natural  power  of  means 
as  though  it  were  a  natural  effect.     Thus  a  pungent 
exhortation  is  likely   to   make  deeper  impressions 
than   a  frigid  exposition.     The  manner  best  calcu- 
lated to  persuade  a  reasonable  man  to  do  you  a  fa- 
vour, is  best  calculated  to  prevail  on  him  to  be  a 
Christian.     When  the  parent  sits  down  in  earnest 
to  press  the  conscience  of  his  child,  and  feels  that 
he  cannot  let  him  go,  he  is  very  likely  to  succeed. 
These  things  are  so  ordered,  among  other  reasons, 
to  encourage  us  to  put  every  wheel  of  nature  in  mo- 
tion for  the  salvation  of  men  which  would  promise 
to  be  successful  if  that  salvation  were   a  natural 
effect.     Were  we  not  encouraged  to  make  these  ex- 
ertions, we  could  make  none  at  all,   except  merely 
by  prayer;  for  all  our  other  means  and  all  our  pow- 
ers lie  within  the  boundaries  of  nature.  We  cannot 
reach  beyond,  nor  move  a  step  but  by  her  laws.  Yet 
all  these  means  and  efforts  prove  unavailing  in  in- 
stances enough  to  convince  us  of  our  absolute  de- 
pendance  on  supernatural  power. 


IlECT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF     GRACE.  159 

Thus  far  I  have  applied  the  principle  to  the  exer- 
i lions  of  men  for  the  conviction  of  others;  but  the 
coincidence  of  the  supernatural  with  the  natural 
order  will  more  clearly  appear  from  the  use  that  is 
made  of  the  sinner's  own  agency.  God  carries  on 
the  work  of  conviction,  (so  far  as  he  is  pleased  to 
advance  it,)  through  the  sinner's  own  attention,  pour- 
ing light  through  the  eye  of  the  mind  as  it  is  eagerly 
held  towards  the  truth,  and  making  the  effect  to  de- 
pend on  that  attention  as  really  as  in  any  other  case. 
To  go  back  to  the  beginning:  the  mind  of  the  stupid 
sinner  always  has  an  eye  open,  however  vacantly  it 
may  gaze,  and  truth  in  the  first  instance  is  brought 
and  laid  before  it  by  divine  or  human  agency  with- 
out any  effort  of  its  own.  At  that  moment  God 
gives,  or  fails  to  give,  a  realizing  view.  If  the  view 
is  not  sufficiently  distinct  to  fix  the  attention,  and  the 
mind  turns  its  eye  away,  or  fails  to  adjust  it  to  the 
object,  the  view  will  be  gone,  or  continue  very  indis- 
tinct and  only  for  a  short  time.  All  the  efforts  from 
without,  whether  of  God  or  man,  do  no  more  than 
present  o6/'ec^5  of  attention,  and  urge  motives  to  stim- 
ulate attention,  and  cause  realizing  views  to  accom- 
pany attention.  But  if  the  attention  is  not  fixed  the 
effect  ceases.  The  mind  must  see  for  itself,  or  it  will 
not  perceive;  and  it  cannot  see  the  object  while  the 
eye  is  turned  another  way.  The  sinner  must  attend 
to  what  in  the  first  instance  is  laid  before  him,  and 
under  the  excitement  of  that  motive  must  put  him- 
self in  the  way  to  see  more,  and  as  new  truth  is  pre- 
sented must  fix  his  eye  eagerly  on  that,  and  stimu- 
lated by  the  new  motives  thus  discovered,  must  bend 
a  still  more  earnest  attention  to  the  subject,  and  so 
on  in  a  series  of  increasing  efforts,  or  according  to 
God's  ordinary  mode  of  operation  he  will  never  be 
convicted. 

All  this  time  the  hand  of  God  is  behind  him,  ef- 
fectually urging  him  forward  by  a  clear  display  of 


^^^  MEANS  OF  GRACE.      [lECT.  VI 

motives:    and   it   is  before  him,  pouring   new  lis 
through  the  eye  as  it  gazes.  The  first  realizing  vie 
which  fixes  the  attention  is  from  God.     As  the  a 
tention  is  thus  turned  to  truth,  and  by  a  natural  pr* 
cess  obtains  clearer  knowledge,  the  supernatural  i-^ 
fluence,   counteracting   the    blindness   of  unbelid 
gives  a  still  more  realizing  view.     The  attentioi 
thus  sharpened,  gazes  with  greater  eagerness,  ari 
the  accompanying  influence  continues  to  give  reai 
izing  views  of  what  the  mind  by  its  own  eflTort  indiJ 
tmctly  discovers.    And  more  generally  the  realiziri 
sense,  in  every  step  of  the  progress,  is  in  proportio' 
to  the  degree  of  attention  which  immediately  pr^ 
ceded.     Not  always   however.     There  are  exceb 
tions  enough  to  convince  the  mind   of  its  absolut 
dependance  on  supernatural  power,— a  sense  whic 
goes  in  to   constitute  an  essential  part  of  the  cori 
viction  desired.     Thus  by  its  xery  failures  the  atten 
Hon  helps  forward  with  the  work.     So  by  its  failure 
to  conquer  the  heart,  and  bribe  God  by  self-ri^ht 
eousness,  it  brings  an  increased  sense  of  the  stub 
bornness   of  the  heart  and  the  need  of  a  Saviour 
But  It  advarices  the  work  chiefly  by  its  success,  the 
view  followmg  the  effbrt  to  see  as  though  it  were  a 
natural  effect.     While  the   mind   strives  to  see  il 
sees;  while  it  gazes  with  increased  eagerness,  it  see« 
more  and  more.     Through  the  sinner's  own  exer- 
tions to  frequent  places  where  truth  is  displayed, 
--through  his  prying  eftbrts  to  see  the  object  in  the 
clearest  light,  to  catch  its  exact  lines  and  colours,— 
through  the  deep  attention  which  he   pays  to  his 
own  wretched  character  and  wretched   case,  the 
work  ot  illumination  and  conviction  is  carried  on 
I  he  sinner's  agency,  though  not  employed  in  regen- 
eration, IS   greatly  employed  here.     It  is  as  much 
employed  in   the  progress  of  conviction,  (so  far  as 

ri^'/^r^'^"^  ^^  """"''y  ^"  *h^  ^ork,)  as  the  agency 
ot  the  Christian  in  the  progress  of  sanctification,-- 


J.ECT.    Vlll.]  MEANS    OF     GRACE.  161 

fivith  these  points  of  difference  however:  the  Chris- 
ian  has  a  promise  and  certainty  that  his  agency 
hall  succeed,  the  sinner  has  no  promise  or  certainty 
([it  all;  the  Christian's  agency  is  holy,  and  connected 
vith  a  holy  result,  the  sinner's  agency  is  unholy, 
iind  connected  with  no  other  result  than  a  convic- 
ion  of  truth.  But  the  two  cases  aojree  in  these 
hree  respects:  in  neither  is  the  human  agency  the 
efficient  cause;  in  neither  can  the  effect  follow  with- 
|)ut  that  agency;  in  both  that  agency  has  a  some- 
yhat  stated,  (much  resembling  a  natural,)  tendency, 
oy  the  accompanying  influence  of  God,  to  produce 
:he  effect.  These  three  ideas  are  perfectly  displayed 
n  a  single  case:  Sampson  must  bow  himself  iviih  all 
kis  might  to  remove  the  pillars  of  the  house,  though 
the  house  fell  by  supernatural  power.  The  power 
icting  thus  through  his  will  and  agency,  gave  every 
iippearance  of  a  natural  eflfect.  Thus  God  works 
J 'all  our  works  in  us."  fVe  "labour,  striving  accord- 
ing to  his  working  which  worketh  in"  us  "mightily." 
iVVhile  ive  "work  out"  our  "own  salvation,"  it  is  he 
that  "worketh  in"  us  "to  will  and  to  do."* 

IV.  I  am  to  treat  of  the  success  of  the  word  in 
accomplishing,  as  the  text  suggests,  every  end  which 
God  designed. 

That  men  are  convicted  who  are  never  converted, 
facts  abundantly  testify.  That  they  return  to  sin 
from  every  stage  of  conviction,  is  equally  evident. 
In  may  instances  they  "quench — the  Spirit"  and 
fall  away,  after  having  been  "enlightened"  and 
"tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift"  and  been  "made  par- 
takers of  the  Holy  Ghost"  and  "tasted  of  the  good 
word  of  God  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come."f 
That  God  should  begin  a  work  of  conviction  upon 
the  non-elect,  is  no  more  unaccountable  than  that 
he  should  send   them  the  Gospel.     The  design  in 

*  Isai.  xxvi.  12.    Phil.  ii.  12, 13.    Col.  i.  29.  t  Heb.  vi.  4—8. 


^^^  ifEANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    vtt 

t^'LllV  ''  '^""''tless  the  same.     But  the  questi  f, 
IS  does  his  power  secure  the  conviction  of  as  ma  (' 
as  he  pleases,  and  as  far  as  he  pleases?    Or   is  tf 
event  left  contingent?  I  shall  assume  that  the  wc 
s  earned  on  through  the  sinner's  own  attention,  th 
lr,,,h  ^11  "  "°'  ^"P^  anxiously  turned  toward  tl 
w,l  faTl      T,  '"■°"=  '^°'i  *°  "'^'  'he  whole  effe 
keL    L  ,VT  '1""".°"  then  is,  will  God  certain 
Keep  up  that  attention   as  far  as  he  pleases?  Ai 

fwL'^?  t  ^^^'P.  ''  "P  '"  ^P''e  of  all  resistanc 
(without  altering  the  disposition  or  weakenins  tl 
resistance,)  and  yet  leave  the  sinner  free?      ^ 

distinwl'J  ,f  A  '!  •''  "^^s^afy  to  introduce  mol 
tdm?t  !ll  If  j'°°"''"^  of  '""tives.  Either  we  mu' 
tn^nu!^      ffu'T'""  power  of  the  will,  hol< 

o^M^  !  hand  the  decision  whether  to  yield  or  nc 
k  S  *°,'"°"''e^'  ">'  we  must  believe  that  the  vvi 
nJtr  If  governed  by  motives.  The  latter  is  ur 
questionably  the  truth,  and  common  sense,  instruci 
the  H.f'' r'^""^'  P'onounees  it  true  every  hour  c 

nths  nf  r^TT"-  '^""''  ''elivered  from  the  labyr 
v^eld  °^,P"='^P''>'S'e«..Pronounces  that  men  alway 
"UDon  ?h  ,  '■°"?''  'nducement,  and  yet  are  free 
Upon  this  priiioiple  you  are  constantly  calculatim 
the  future  conduct  of  men.  You  feel  a  perfec  con- 
fidence that  if  you  offer  a  miser  a  bag  of  money  "< 

dlrthro.r^"'  '^7''^'^"-^  nostfongrs! 

draws  the  other  way,  he  will  comply;  and  vet  vou 
w'hn?  f"'"'*^  '^'  he  would  not  be  Tee^^h" 
ed  uoonThr^'  '^'^"',  <^o^"iercM  world  is  conduct 
svstem  nf  ^^"',^'=^'°"'^''°"''«nd  ^°  i^  the  whole 
formi?v  Je  T'^^  .>ntercourse.  Break  up  the  uni- 
tZTlU!,  '  principle,  and  leave  it  wholly  uncer- 
ftZThefi"'  ^'\"''"'  "^^'^  '°  ^"''tch  a  child 
he  ,...!.  i.^'u^'h^''  'he  friend  who  meets  you  in 
from  .1   "^  '  ^^  festrained  by  a  thousand  motives 

order  and  rf/°"f  '''^'  '"''  ""  *he   foundations  of 
order  and  rational  action  are  removed,  and  the  world 


teCT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  163 

j  transformed  into  one  vast  bedlam, — a  bedlam  in 
jhich  the  maniacs  are  as  likely  to  kill  a  friend  to 
|ain  a  feather  as  to  win  a  crown, — as  likely  to  kill 
,  friend  without  motives,  and  in  full  opposition  to  all 
lotives,  as  to  hurt  an  enemy  when  most  highly  in- 
duced. This  is  a  new  species  of  madmen,  a  world 
r  madmen  moving  in  a  maze  without  a  particle  of 
liflection,  without  any  end  or  object  even  floating 
1  a  distempered  fancy.  Such  a  self-moving  will, 
nharnessed  from  reason  and  let  loose  into  the  world, 
I  ould  be  more  to  be  dreaded  than  wolves  and  tigers, 
a  short  there  can  be  no  rational  action  a  whit  fur- 
ler  than  the  will  is  absolutely  controlled  by  mo- 
^ves;  that  is  to  say,  a  whit  further  than  it  has  a 
^ason  for  its  decisions,  and  is  governed  by  the  con- 
^derations  which  appear  strongest  and  best. 

The  world  then  is  governed  by  motives.  Of  course 
:  is  easy  with  God,  without  in  the  least  altering  the 
disposition,  to  exert  a  perfect  control  over  all  the 
olitions  of  men  by  only  spreading  for  them  a  proper 
!rain  of  motives.  To  recur  now  to  the  question:  it 
.5  only  for  God  to  display  truth  before  the  minds  of 
inners,  with  so  much  clearness  as  to  create  a  mo- 
,ive  to  attention  stronger  than  every  opposite  motive, 
|nd  the  attention  is  secured.  So  long  as  he  con- 
^nues  to  exert  such  an  influence  the  attention  will 
^e  kept  alive,  and  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  clear- 
less  and  strength  of  the  motives  presented.  The 
Aotives  cannot  indeed  act  upon  any  other  than  nat- 
\ral  principles,  for  none  else  exist.  The  sinner 
vill  not  follow  them  to  the  end  to  which  they  invite, 
iz.  to  holiness;  but  he  will  be  sure  to  follow  where 
ipparent  interest  calls,  and  of  course  to  those  efforts 
ifter  deliverance  which  will  fix  his  eye  attentively 
ipon  divine  truth.  Whom  therefore  God  chooses 
uO  convict  he  will  convict,  and  just  as  far  as  he 
pleases,  and  that  through  their  own  voluntary  at- 
ention. 


164  MfiANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    VT.I^' 

It  may  then  be  asked,  how  far  have  sinners  the  pow 
to  prevent  the  effect?    The  answer  is,  they   ha|!^ 
complete  natural  power  to  prevent,  as  in  every  oth 
case  where  their  agency  is  necessary  to  the  iss 
This  ability  however  lies  not  in  the  self-determini 
power  of  the  will,  but  in  a  power  to  execute  any  o 
posite  decree  which  the  will  should  issue;  in  othi 
words,  in  a  power  to  turn  away  the  attention  ifth 
are  so  disposed.  This  case  is  materially  different  froi 
that   of  regeneration,  where   the  effect  is  wrong! 
without  their  agency.     In   this   case  they  have  ? 
much  power  to  turn  away  their  attention,  and  thi 
arrest  the  progress  of  conviction,  as  they  have  t 
stop  in  a  journey  when  the  stronger  motive  impel 
them  forward,  as   they  have   to  sit   still  when   th 
stronger  motive  solicits  them  to  walk,  as  they  hav 
to  refuse  an  invitation  to   a  feast  when  urged  an 
entreated  by  a  friend.     If  the  motive  which  incite 
them  to  divine  contemplations  is  not  at  first  stron 
enough  to  countervail  all  others,  God  will   indeed 
if  he  is  determined  on   success,    press   them   witl 
stronger  inducements  till  he  prevails.  But  the  wholt 
process  is  still  of  the  nature  of  moral  suasion.  Then 
is  no  more  compulsion  in  the   case  than  in  all  th{ 
common  actions  of  life;  for  all  our  actions  are  equallv 
governed  by  motives.     Nor  is  this  particular  case 
at  all  different  from  the  rest,  except  that  the  motives 
are  more  solemn  and  are  made  clear  to  the  mind  b} 
supernatural  powder.     In   a  word   the  sinner  is  af 
free  to  turn  away,  and  thus  stop  the  progress   o: 
conviction,  and  by  this  means  prevent  regeneration 
as  he  is  to  do  any  other  thing;  but  it  is  certain  thai 
he  will  not  turn  away  if  God  continues  to  set  suffi- 
cient motives  clearly  before  him. 

INFERENCES. 

(1.)     We  see  the  good  tendency   and  absolute 
need  of  the  sinner's  own  attention  to  the  word  o 


ILECT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  165 

;God  and  the  means  of  grace, — of  his  agonizing 
exertions  to  understand  and  gain  realizing  views  of 
revealed  truth.  These  exertions  do  not  indeed 
itend  to  change  his  heart;  but  if  they  are  earnest 
and  solemn,  and  guided  by  judicious  instructions, 
they  do  tend,  (such  is  the  common  mode  of  divine 
operation,)  to  advance  the  work  of  conviction,  and 
very  much  in  proportion  to  their  strength.  The 
tagonizing  reach  to  apprehend  divine  things  which  is 
made  in  prayer,  has  a  better  tendency  than  medita- 
[tion;  meditation  has  a  better  tendency  than  bare 
attention;  and  the  slightest  attention  of  mind  has  a 
[better  tendency  than  a  vacant  attendance  on  means. 
lAn  attendance  on  means  with  an  idle  wandering 
mind,  has  scarcely  any  tendency  at  all  to  bring 
ihome  a  realizing  sense  of  truth.  There  is  no  such 
ispell  in  ordinances  to  convict  a  mind  that  is  roving 
fin  the  ends  of  the  earth.  There  ought  to  be  as 
(strong  an  effort  to  realize  divine  things  as  to  ex- 
tinguish the  flames  which  are  kindling  on  your 
itiouse, — as  to  support  a  rock  that  must  crush  you  in 
jits  fall.  There  is  no  more  need  of  strong  efforts  in 
ithese  cases  than  in  that,  and  without  exertions 
(approaching  to  this  character  there  is  absolutely  no 
prospect  of  the  sinner's  salvation.  To  sit  still 
without  an  effort,  is  nothing  less  than  putting  the 
pistol  to  his  own  breast.  To  neglect  the  means  of 
grace,  or  to  attend  on  them  without  a  struggle  to 
realize  divine  things,  is  as  direct  a  way  to  destroy 
the  soul,  (according  to  God's  usual  mode  of  opera- 
tion,) as  abstinence  from  food  to  destroy  the  body. 
The  only  difference  is,  that  now  and  then,  a  sinner 
is  converted  in  an  extraordinary  way  without  the 
jusual  means. 

Say  not  then  that  if  you  arc  elected  to  be  saved 
you  shall  be  saved  whether  you  make  exertions  or 
inot.  There  is  no  such  decree  that  prevents  the  abso- 
jlutedependance  of  the  end  on  the  appointed  means, 
Had  not  Naaman  washed  in  Jordan,  no  decree 
1  15 


166  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    VIII 

would  have  healed  the  leper.     Had  not  the  blinc 
men  sat  by  the  way  side,  no  decree   would  have 
opened  their  eyes.     Had  not  the  impotent  man  lain 
by  the  pool,  no  decree  would  have  made  him  whole. 
Had  not  the  bones  been  wathin  the  reach  of  Ezekierj, 
voice,  no  bodies  would  have  been  organized.     Had 
the  parts   failed  to   come  together,   "bone  to   his 
bone,"  no   life   would   have   been  infused.     Or  to 
illustrate  the  idea  by  a  case  still  more  in  point,  if  a 
man  does  not  open  his  eyes  he  will  not  see.     If  he 
does  not  turn  his  eyes  towards  the  object,  and  pry 
if  it  is  obscure,  he  will  not  see  it  clearly.     Now  if  it 
is  decreed   that  this  view  of  the  object  shall    be 
distinct,  it  is  decreed  that  these  previous  steps  shall 
be  taken,  and  the  end  is  no  more  certain  than  the 
means,  and   will   certainly  fail   if  they  fail.     U  it 
is  certain  that  a  farmer  v^ill  have  a  crop,  it  is  certain 
that  he  will  sow  his  seed.     If  it  is  certain  that  a 
man  will  live  to  old  age,  it  is  certain  that  he  will 
continue  to  take  food.      If  it  is  certain  that  a  man 
will   be  glorified,  equally  so  that  he  will   first  be 
justified;  if  that  he  will  be  justified,  equally  so  that 
lie   will   be   eflfectually    called;  if  that  he   will   be 
effectually  called,  equally  so  that  he  will  be  con- 
victed; if  that   he  will   be  convicted;    ninety-nine 
times  in  a  hundred  he  will  make  the  exertions  which 
have  been  mentioned.      And   to  say  that  if  he  is 
elected  he  shall  be  saved  whether  he   use   means 
or  not,  is  like  saying,  if  it  was  decreed  that  he  should 
live  to  old  age,  he  will  live  though  he  renounce  food, 
and  w^ould  though  he  had  never  been  born. 

Nothing  then  but  inevitable  destruction  awaits 
those  who  cast  off  fear  and  restrain  prayer,  who 
neglect  the  means  of  grace,  or  attend  on  them  with 
a  careless  mind.  Not  a  sympton  appears  that  such 
people  are  ever  to  be  saved,  and  continuing  thus 
they  are  as  certainly  lost  as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven. 
But  after  all  this  whole  process  is  only  God  using 
means  with  the  sinner,  and  not  the  sinner   using 


LECT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  167 

means  with  God.  The  voluntary  agency  of  the 
sinner  must  be  set  in  motion,  and  the  indispensable 
necessity  of  this  may  be  displayed,  to  show  him  the 
madness  of  stupidity  and  to  rouse  his  attention;  but 
after  all,  in  a  moral  point  of  view  his  agency  is  of  no 
account.  The  whole  credit  is  due  to  another.  It 
is  God  that  awakens  his  attention  and  keeps  it 
awake.  It  is  God  pressing  an  unholy  agency  into 
service,  as  he  did  in  the  case  of  Pharaoh.  The 
whole  is  nothing  but  God  struggling  with  the  sinner, 
and  the  sinner  with  all  his  moral  feelings  struggling 
against  God.  It  is  God  bringing  good  out  of  evil, 
and  forcing  the  selfish  agency  which  is  directed 
against  him  to  promote  his  merciful  designs.  In  a 
word  it  is  God  using  means  upon  the  sinner,  and 
not  the  sinner  using  means  for  himself.  To  com- 
pare his  unholy  exertions,  (as  is  often  done,)  to  the 
lawful  means  employed  by  the  husbandman,  is 
grossly  deceptive,  and  tends  only  to  foster  that  self- 
righteousness  which  is  the  principal  enemy  to  be 
overcome.  There  is  no  real  resemblance  between 
the  two  cases.  The  sinner  has  never  broken  up 
his  "fallow  ground;"  he  only  sows  upon  a  rock;  he 
plants  "thistles — instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle  in- 
stead of  barley." 

(2.)  We  see  on  what  account  there  is  more  hope 
of  awakened  sinners  than  of  the  stupid,  and  more  of 
the  convicted  than  of  the  awakened,  and  more  of 
those  who  are  deeply  than  those  who  are  slightly 
convinced.  It  is  not  because  they  have  done  any 
thing  acceptable  to  God,  nor  because  they  are 
interested  in  any  of  his  promises,  nor  because  they 
have  approached  nearer  to  a  holy  temper,  nor 
because  any  of  their  struggles  or  acquisitions  tend 
to  change  their  hearts;  but  because  God  has  begun 
the  preparatory  work  and  Jias  thus  far  advanced  it. 
The  more  advanced  it  is,  the  more  the  evidence 
hat  he  intends  to  carry  it  through. 


1^^  MEANS  OF  GRACE.        [lECT.  Vr 

(3.)  We  see  the  good  tendency  of  preaching 
to  sinners,  and  following  them  with  exhortations  am 
entreaties.  These  exertions  answer  two  ends 
i^irst,  to  explain  and  hold  up  truth  before  them.  I  , 
IS  in  vain  for  them  to  turn  their  eye  if  the  object  if 
not  presented.  Secondly,  to  furnish  motives  tc 
stimulate  their  attention  to  the  object.  Thev  cer- 
tainly will  attend  if  sufficient  motives  are  brought 

^^Uhl\  '\'t^'''  ''^'^'   ^''"^   '^''y   ^'i^l   "^t   atte^'nd 
without.     There   is    then   the  same  need    and  the 

same  encouragement  to  throw  in  motives  as  in  any 
other  case.      One  thought  suggested  by  a   friend 
when  their  attention   begins  tfflag,  may  rouse  it 
again  and  prove  an  essential  link  in  the  chain  of 
their  salvation       The  thought  would  naturally  sink 
into  their  minds  if  unbelief  did  not  resist;    but  the 
time  which  the  Spirit  ordinarily  takes  to  counteract 
tnat  resistance,  is  when  good  men  are  striving  to  fix 
impressions  upon  their  hearts.      It  is  not  his  usual 
way    to  send  home   immediate  suggestions,   but   to 
apply  considerations  offered   by   others.     When  a 
solemn  truth  is  laid  before  them  we  never  know  but 
he  may  lodge  it  deep  in  their  conscience.     4nd  as 
so   much   depends   on    putting   their   agency   into 
action  and  keeping  it  in  action,  every   thin-  that 
can  be  done  ought  to   be  done   for  this  pu^rpose. 
Ihe  success  of  these  efforts  may  be  expected  to 
bear  some  proportion  to  the  nature  and  clearness  of 
the  truths  suggested,   and  to  the  earnestness  and 
address  with  which   they  are  enforced.     There  is 
then  every  encouragement,  and  it  is  of  infinite  im- 
portance, for  ministers  to  labour  in  season  and  out 
of  season;  for  friends  to  speak  often  one  to  another- 
for  parents  to  teach  and  exhort  their  children  when    i 
they  sit  in  the  house  and  when  they  walk  by  the    ' 
way    when  they   rise   up  and  when  they   lie  down. 
Had  not  Ezekiel's  voice  been  heard  in  the  valley 
the  bones  would  not  have  lived. 

(4  )     We  learn  from  our  subject  the  manner  in 
which  sinners  ought  to  be  addressed. 


LECT. 


Vni.]       MEANS  OF  GRACE.  169 

First,  we  see  the  infinite  importance  of  declaring 
[to  them  the  ivhole  counsel  of  God,  comprehending  all 
the  motives  that  can  rouse  their  attention,   and  all 
the  considerations  that  can  affect  their  hearts.     The 
more  plainly  and  fully  the  truth   is  displayed,  the 
greater  the  prospect  of  their  salvation.     It  is  not  to 
offer  instruction  in  loose  and  general  terms;  it  is  not 
Ito  sketch  the  mere  outlines  of  the  Christian  doctrine; 
it  is  not  to  deal  out  a  few  scraps  of  morality;  but 
particularly  and  clearly  to  lay  open  all  that  God  has 
revealed.      It  is  not  to  ring  perpetual  changes  on  a 
few   party  shibboleths,— a  few  abstract   doctrines; 
we  must  present  the  objects  of  religion  in  all  their 
;  affecting  attitudes;  we  must  display  the  truths  oi 
I  God  in  all  their  pungency  and  point,  and  POur  all 
the  motives  of  Christianity  upon  the  heart.     This 
leads  me  to  say. 

Secondly,  we  have  as  much  encouragement  as  in 
any  other  case  to  use  an  interesting,  impressive 
manner,  (the  manner  adapted  to  the  nature  of  man,) 
as  being  calculated  not  only  to  awaken  attention, 
but  to  °seize  all  the  natural  avenues  to  the  soul. 
Such  is  the  coincidence  between  the  supernatural 
and  natural  order  of  divine  operations,  that  this 
manner  promises  by  far  the  greatest  success. 

Thirdly,  we  learn  the  importance  of  urging  upon 
sinners    the   duty   of  immediate  submission,  as   best 
calculated  both  to  rouse  their  highest  attention  and 
to  present  to  their  view  the  most  powerful   and  di- 
rect means  of  conviction.     The  only  end  of  preach- 
ing to  that  class  of  men  is  to  produce  attention,  and 
throuf^h  that,  conviction, — conviction,  in   the  first 
placet  of  their  obligations,  guilt,  obstinacy,  help- 
lessness, and  perishing  need  of  a  Saviour,  and  then, 
of  the  truths  relating  to  the  Saviour  and  the  way  of 
acceptance  by  him.      The  first  thing,  besides  exci- 
tin<^  some  degree  of  attention,  is  to  lay  open  their 
ohUmtions.     From    this   results   a   sense   of  guilt. 
From   a  view  of  their  obligations  and  reluctance 
I  *15 


170  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  [lECT.    Vllj 


arises  a  conviction  of  obstinacy,  helplessness,  an 

rum.     From  the  whole  follows  a  deep  apprehensio 

ot  their  need  of  a  Saviour;  and  that  is  sure  to  pro 

duce  the  highest  state  of  attention.     The  beginnin 

ot  the  whole  process,  (except  a  partial  excitation  o 

the  attention,)  is  to  awaken  a  sense  of  obligation 

Now  the  foundation  of  all  sense  of  obligation  mus 

be  laid  m  a  view  of  the  claims  of  the  moral  Govern 

our  ot  the  world,— claims  not  at  all  impaired  by  the 

indisposition   of  man.     And   what  are  his   claims^ 

tie ''now  commandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent/ 

JSTow,  saith  the  Lord,  turn   ye   even  to  me   with 

all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting  and  with    weepino^ 

and  with  mourning;  and  rend  your  heart  and  nol 

your  garment,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God." 

Submit  yourselves— to  God;— cleanse  your  hands, 

^^  i'T,^''  rT^    ^''''^y   >'^"'*  ^''"^''^'^    ve    double- 
minded.  '*     If  such   are  the  claims   of  God,    and 
such  obligations  really  lie  upon  sinners,  the  readiest 
way  to  make  them  {eel  their  obligations  is  to  urge 
them  to  the  immediate  performance  of  these  duties. 
it  they  ought   to  repent   without   delay,    then  the 
readiest  way  to  make  them  feel  what  they  owe  is  to 
urge  them  to  immediate  repentance;  and  this  will 
at  once  show  them  their  reluctance,  obstinacy,  and 
rum.     That  they  will  not  yield  to  this  requisition  is 
no  objection  to  its  being  urged.     God  never  sent 
the  Gospel  with  an  expectation  that  it   would  of 
Itself  conquer  the  hearts  of  men  but  by  opening  to 
them  his  character  and  claims,  to  convince  them  of 
their  rum  and  need  of  a  Saviour.     And  which,  I 
ask  has  the  most  tendency  to  produce  this  convic- 
tion, to  exhort  them  to  a  mere  use  of  means,  or  to 
press  upon  them  their  full  obligations  to  God.?  If 
you  would  thoroughly  convince  them  of  their  euilt, 
hardness,    and   helplessness,   you  must    not    lower 
down  their  obligations  to  a  few  outward  observances, 

*Joelii.l2,13.    Actsxvii.30.    James  iv.  7,  8. 


ILECT.    VIII.]  MEANS    OF    GRACE.  171 

iwhile  you  leave  them  ignorant  of  God's  high  and 
holy    claims;    you    must    set    the    standard    high. 
U  you  tell  tiiem   to  do  the  best  they  can  (in  other 
iwords,  the  best  that  they  are  disposed  to  do,)  that 
ithey  will  easily  perform,  and  in  the  trial  find  no  evi- 
dence of  the  stubbornness  of  their  hearts.     That 
ithey  will  easily  perform,  and  then  yield  to  the  strong 
propensity   of  nature   to  sleep  upon   the  pillow  of 
self-righteousness.     This  is  not  the  way  to  bring 
Isinners  to  the  foot  of  the  cross;  nor  is  it  the  readiest 
way,  as  abundant  experience  testifies,  to  secure  even 
an  attention  to  means.     Uncover  all  their  obligations 
if  you  would  drive    them  to  their  knees, — if  you 
would    compel   them   to  the   sanctuary  and   their 
Bibles.     But  you  say,  why  exhort  sinners  to  do  what 
you  know  they  will  not  do  without  a  constraining 
impulse.^      I  answer:  if  this  is  not  allowed,  we  may 
not  even  urge  them  to  a  serious  use  of  means.     But 
the  fact  is  that  God  never  sent  forth  his  ministers  to 
,  exhort  sinners  to  do  what  they  will  do  of  themselves, 
but  to  urge  upon  them  what  he  knew  they  never 
would    perform   without    his   constraining    power. 
Thus  he  sent  Ezekiel  to  say,  "Dry  bones,  hear  the 
word  of  the  Lord,"   when  he  knew  that  the  bones 
would  never  hear  without  his  supernatural  interposi- 
tion.    And  this  command  was  a  sufficient  warrant 
and  encouragement  to  the  prophet.     If  he  should 
bid  me  go  and  preach  to  the  dead  in  yonder  grave- 
yard, I  would  go.     With  no  other  encouragement  I 
now  stand  over  this  valley  of  the  slain,  and  say  to 
the   dead    of  my   people    and  kindred,   Come   out 
of  your   graves,  ye   bones    that    are    "very    dry. 
"Awake,  thou   that   sleepest,   and    arise    from   the 
dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light."     Amen., 


liECTlTRE    IX. 

ELECTION. 

EPHESIANS  i,  i,  5. 


OUT  BLAME  BEFURE  h'iJ"","^  """"■°  ""=  «<"•''  ''"D  WITH 
WTO  THE  ^I>OPTIo/op  cmriHV»"f  ""^  ">^"«T,^■„ED™ 
«-,  .CCOKB„„  TO  THE  oTo^^SJLflV  ^Tl'l.'°  ""' 

selfish,a„d  enemies  oVodatdrV;"-  ^"'''f^^^^'^ 
any  approach    toward  ..n^.  fi      ?  'eroam,  without 

actions  otherw  se   han  si. ^ul  o    H-ff"-"  '"^^''"S^  «■• 
any  prayers  that  God  „       i         '"f^'AereiU,  without 

thJtLnLto  aS^eiS^r^Ttrtl    '"'  *''"=" 
ment  of  reffeneratinn.  ii,  '":?">  "nt'l  the  very  mo- 

in  every  casf ,"  ca  ri?^  t     "!'  "'?'''  "^  conviction 

the  coo'peration  o7  he  ZC  1'^!^ ''°'' ^'t'^''' 
secured    by   the   ronirJ  •        •  ^  "'''*  ^^'^^^  being 

that  regeniati'onTs"*;"  SufedlvT*^  °' "°"^'^^' 
and  immediate  power  of  P?!i  ^  *^^  supernatural 
duced  by  the  sinner    =^       '^'  •  V"'"^'^'^  "«<!  "nin- 

bated  resytacr\'hets"t.\rt '•''"''"»"  •'"'  "'- 
where  this  power  is  eJr.A  .  '"  *''^'^  '"^"'n^e 
that  of  course  its  Ler,lT     "^g^^^^fatmn  follows;  i 

others,-„ot  because^  f  P°"  T'^  ""''  "°*  "PO"  ■ 
oecause  the  favoured  ones  have  better  ' 


uECT.  IX.]  ELECTION.  ^"73 

improved  antecedent  grace,  or  have  been  more 
i-eady  to  yield,  or  have  induced  or  aided  God,  but 
because  he  "will  have  mercy  on  whom"  he  "will 
iiave  mercy;"  that  he  makes  one  to  differ  from  an- 
Dther  according  to  his  sovereign  pleasure,  for  no 
sjther  assignable  reason  than,  "Even  so,  Father,  for 
io  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  All  this,  I  must 
believe,  has  been  proved;  and  it  completely  estab- 
lishes the  doctrine  of  election,  except  so  far  as  relates 
|to  the  eternal  decree. 

Now  if  God  performs  all  his  works  from  design, 
and  is  unchangeable,  the  fact  of  the  eternal  decree 
iS  readily  established.  The  theory  of  decrees  is 
simply  this:  avhatever  God  does  he  always  meant 
TO  do.  Whatever  he  accomplishes  by  positive 
ipower  he  always  meant  to  accomplish;  whatever 
he  permits  he  always  meant  to  permit.  This  must 
)be  true  if  he  acts  from  design  and  is  unchangeable. 
For  example,  if  he  creates  a  world  to-day,  and  does 
,it  designedly,  he  always  had  the  same  design,  or  else 
'he  has  formed  a  new  purpose  and  is  changeable.  If 
he  produces  a  new  heart  to-day,  and  does  it  design- 
edly, he  always  had  the  same  design,  or  else  he  has 
formed  a  new  purpose  and  is  changeable.  If  he 
makes  one  to  differ  from  another  to-day,  and  does 
it  designedly,  he  always  intended  to  make  that  dis- 
crimin'ation,  or  else  he  has  formed  a  new  purpose, 
and  is  changeable. 

The  fact  that  whatever  God  does  he  always  meant 
ito  do,  may  be  argued  also  from  his  foreknowledge, 
JDid  he  eternally   foreknow  that  he  should  create  a 
world?  How  did  he  foreknow  it?  He  knew  that  no  one 
could  compel  him:  if  he  had  not  determined  to  do  it, — 
if  the  purpose  was  unsettled  in  his  mind, — if  his  reso- 
lution was  wavering,  how  did  he  certainly  know  that 
!  he  should  create?  Did  he   eternally   foreknow    that 
I  he    should  change   that  heart  to-day?    Hom;  did  he 
I  foreknow  it?  He  knew  that  no  one  could  compel  him: 


*  ELECTION.  [lECT. 

If  he  had  not  determined  to  produce  this  chaneei 
It  the  purpose  was  unsettled  in  his  mind,— if  }. 
resolution  was  wavering,  how  did  he  know  that  ii 
certainly  should  do  it?  [ 

tl.oTl''®  I''"  fi'''JJ?f?  '"  another  view.  He  forekne 
that  he  should  of  his  own  accord  make  a  world.  C 
that  event  he  deliberately  held  his  eye  from  eterd 
ty.  And  could  he  eternally/om.e  a  vohntarv  ai 
01  his  own,  and  have  no  choice  or  design  about  i 
Could  you  foresee  that  you  should  voluntarily  tak 
a  journey  at  a  given  time,  and  yet  have  no  choio 

Zfr^A  f^T.  "'^  ^'^"^-  I«  ■'  Po^^ible  to  conceiv 

that  Cxod  should  eternally  have  foreknown  that  of  hi 

own   tree  consent  and  choice  he  should  make  on 

to  differ  from  another,  should  change  one  heart  an. 

leave  another  unchanged,  and  yet   eternally  hav, 

had  no  purpose  or   choice  about  it?  I  must  assura. 

L??K^!  ^  ^T^  *.''°"*  "■'"'=''  n°  doubt  can  exist 

voluntarily  do,  he  always  meant  to  do. 

whir^  °"k  1"®^''°"  is,   what  does  God  perform 

what  does  he  accomplish  by  positive  power?   what 

does  he  permit?   If  it  is  a  fact  that  he  changes  one 

ruin^'hrl  P^™i'^  ^"°ther  to  take  his   coi'rse  to 

ru  n,  he  ahvays  intended  to  do  the  same.     If  it  is 

L  h^  c       't'  ^^  '""'^^^  "^'^^^  discriminations,  then 
aJ!Z       ^,r^"■  '"'^"d^d  t°  ""^ke  them.    The 

han  anoJL?^'T"rT"?"  '^^  '^^lly ''oes  more  for  one' 
himself ?od?ff.  ^f,''^''°es.»o<,  and  the  sinner  makes' 
himself  to  differ,  the  doctrine  of  election  falls.     But 

Lt       ^    ?"^  '"^''*'"  "'^^e   discriminations    be- 
tween men   (agreeably  to  the  proofs  adduced  in  the 

.ncl,?r°  If'"''''^  '^'"  the  doctrine  of  election!  i 
certafn";.  ^  ^'^'■"^'  ^''=''^«'  f°"°»'s  »^ith  absolute 

I,  Irtn!'^^'  'P'''^''''  'difficulty  arises  from  the  decree?  ] 
is  It  contrary  to  human  freedom?   But   the  decree  J 

i 


ECT.  IX.]  ELECTION.  H^ 

Duches  no  man  till  it   is   executed.     No  decree  to ) 
lake  Peter  to  differ  from  Judas  affected  either  of 
bem  till  one  was  taken  and  the  other  left.    If  whde 
hiis  was  done  both  remained  free,    certamly  their 
reedom  was  not  impaired  by  the  previous  purpose. 
f  liberty  is  infringed  it  is  not  infringed  by  the  de- 
-ee,  but  by  the  discriminating  act  at  the  tune  of  re- 
eneration.     But  if  God  can  actually  change  one 
'.eart  and  leave  another  unchanged  without  destroy- 
ng  freedom,  certainly  his  eternal  purpose  to  do  this 
,ould  not  destroy  it.     What  special  difficulty  then 
irises  from  the  decree?  Is  it  against  the  divme  cAar- 
icter"?  But  it   cannot  be  wrong  to  purpose  what  it 
s  right  to  perforin.     If  it  is  proper  to  do  an  act,  it 
s  not  improper  to  resolve  to  do  it.     If  it  is  right  to 
bhan^re  one  heart  and  leave  another  unchanged,  the 
eternll    decree   to   make  this   discrimination    was 

fight.  ,  .,      , 

The  doctrine  of  election,  thus  necessarily  de- 
luced  from  that  of  regeneration,  is  abundantly 
supported  by  the  word  of  God.  There  we  are 
distinctly  taught  that  God  eternally  elected  a  part 
Df  mankind,  not  on  account  of  their  foreseen  holiness, 
but  TO  holiness  itself  ''According  as  he  hath  chosen 
as  in  him,  [Christ,]  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 

in^T     WE      SHOULD     BE     HOLY     AND    WITHOUT    BLAME 

BEFORE  HIM  IN  LOVE;  haviug  ^^recfes^infl^ec?  us  unto  the 
adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himselt,  ac- 
cording to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will;  to  the  praise 
of  the  glory  of  his  ^race,  wherein  he  hath  made  us 
accepted  in  the  beloved;— having  made  known  to 
us  the  mystery  of  his  \w\\\,  according  to  his  good  pleas- 
ure  which  he  hath  purposed  in  himself ;  that  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  fulness  of  times  he  might  gath- 
er together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both  which 
are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth,  even  in  him: 
in  whom  also  we  have  obtained  an  inheritance,  being 
\vredestinated  according  to  the  purpose  of  him  who  work- 


176 


ELECTION.  [lECT. 


eth  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will:  tlui 
we  should  be  to  the   praise   of  his  glory .^For  wi 
are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  7^72/ 
good  ivorh,  WHICH    God    hath    before    ordatne] 

THAT     WE     SHOULD     WALK     IN     THEM."        ''God    hat. 

from  the  beginning  chosen  us  unto  salvation,  througi 

SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SpiRIT  AND  BELIEF    OF    THl 

TRUTH."       "Who    hath    saved    us    and   called   u 
with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  our  works, 

BUT    ACCORDING       TO    HIS    OWN  PURPOSE     AND    GRACE 
WHICH     WAS      GIVEN     US      IN     ChRIST     JeSUS      BEFORE 

THE  WORLD  BEGAN."  "The  children  being  noi 
yet  born,  neither  having  done  any  good  or  evil,  i\m\ 
the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election  might 
stand  710^  of  works  but  of  him  that  calleth,  it  was  said 
unto  her,  the  elder  shall  serve  the  younger;  as  it 
IS  written,  Jacob  have  I  loved  but  Esau  have  I  hat- 
ed.        "Whom    he    did    predestinate    them    he 

ALSO  CALLED."         "As      MANY    AS     WERE    ORDAINED    TO 

ETERNAL  life    BELIEVED."     ^'Yc  havc  not  choscn  me 
out  I  have  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  that  you 

SHOULD     GO     and     BRING     FORTH     FRUIT,     AND     THAT 
YOUR    FRUIT    SHOULD    REMAIN." 

There  are  many  passages  in  which  election  is  as- 
serted in  more  general  terms  without  the  express 
]fn^?\  *^^  ^®'"S  ^"  appointment  to  sanctification:' 

Uod  hath  not  ajjjyointed  us  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain 
salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  ^^according  to  the 
eternal  purpose  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord."     "Many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen.'' 

io  sit  on  my  right  hand  and  on  my  left  is  not  mine  1 
to  give,  but  It  shall  be  given  to  them  for  whom  it  is  pre- 
P^r^dofmy  Fathers     "Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Fa- 
ther, inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  worW^     In  the  commencement  of 
a  Christian  church  at  Corinth,  God   looked  on  the 
^   ragan  inhabitants  and  said  to  Paul  for  his  encour^ 
i    agement,  "I  have  much  people  in  this  city." 


L.ECT.    IX.]  ELECTION.  17^ 

In  the  ages  of  eternity  a  covenant  was  formed 
between  the  Persons  of  the  Sacred  Trinity,  (com- 
monly called  the  covenant  of  redemption,)  in  which 
;he   Father  made  over  to  the  Son  a  definite  number 
)f  the  human  race,  as  the  reward  of  his  obedience 
^unto  death,"  and  caused  their  names,  (whatever 
'l  means,)  to  be  "written"  in  the  Lamb's  "book  of 
ife."     The  vail  was  partly  drawn  from  this  transac- 
tion in  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  where  many 
promises  in  the  form  of  an  oath  were   held   up  as 
nade  to  Christ;  such  as  that  his  throne  should  be 
listablished,  that  he  should  have  the  heathen  for  his 
nheritance,  that  he  should  see  of  the  travail  of  his 
joul  and  be  satisfied,  that  his  seed  should  endure 
brever.     But  in  the  New  Testament  this  ancient 
covenant  is  entirely  laid  open.     There  we  distinctly 
earn  that  the   faith  and  hope  of  God's  elect  are 
bunded  on  a  promise  of  eternal  life  made  before  the 
vorld  began.      "Paul, — an   apostle  of  Jesus  Christ, 
iccording  to  the  faith  of  God's  electa — in   hope  of 
feternal  life,  which  God  that  cannot  lie  promisee?  5e-i 
Jore  the  ivorld  bes^an.^^     Promised  to  whonil^     Not  to 
creatures,  for  they  were  not  in  existence;  to  Christ 
ioubtless.     And  for  the  particular  portion  of  the 
luman  race  who  were  respected  in  this  covenant, 
he  Mediator  in  a  special   sense  laid  down  his  life. 
^I  lay  down   my  life  for  the  sheep.''^      Who  are  the 
heep?     The  very  seed  whom  the  Father  had  given 
lim  in  the   everlasting  covenant,  including  as  well 
hose  who  were  pagans  or  unborn  at  the  time  of  this 
ieclaration,  as   those   who  were   believers  or  had 
rone  to  glory;  to  the  whole  of  whom  salvation  was 
ibsolutely  secured."      "j^iy  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and 
^  knoiv  them,  and  they  follow  me;  and  I  give  unto  them 
ternal  life,  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any 
duck  them  out  of  my  hand.      My  father  ivhich  ga.ve 
'HEM    ME   is  greater  than  all,  and   none  is  able  to 
luck  them  out  my  Father^ s  hand.^^     Elect  Gentiles 
16 


178  ELECTroN.  [lect.  IX 

were  counted  for  sheep  before  their  conversion: 
"And  other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  fold: 
them  also  /  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my 
voice."  It  is  explicitly  asserted  that' the  identical 
persons  that  were  given  to  Christ  shall  all  come 
to  him  by  faith,  and  shall  all  persevere  to  eternal 
life:  "Thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh, 
that  he   should  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou 

HAST    GIVEN    HIM."         "AlL     THAT    THE    FaTHER    GIV- 

ETH  ME  SHALL  COME  TO  ME,  and  him  that  cometh 
to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. — And  this  is  the 
Fatherh  willy — that  of  all  which  he  hath  given 

ME  I  SHOULD  LOSE  NOTHING,  BUT  SHOULD  RAISE  IT 
UP    AGAIN  AT    THE    LAST    DAY."* 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  texts;  but  if  the 
numerous  and  explicit  declarations  which  have 
been  quoted  are  not  sufficient  to  produce  conviction 
a  thousand  others  would  not.  Indeed  if  such  pe- 
remptory and  often  repeated  assertions  of  the  word 
of  God  are  not  believed,  what  is  your  faith  in  divine 
revelation?  Here  I  rest  my  cause, — and  without 
searching  for  further  proof,  shall  only  attempt,  in 
the  remaining  part  of  the  lecture,  to  explain  the 
doctrine  and  vindicate  it  against  objections. 

Suppose  ten  subjects  of  an  earthly  prince  are 
under  sentence  of  death  for  treason,  and  are  con- 
fined in  two  separate  cells,  five  in  one  and  five  in 
the  other.  They  have  all  forfeited  their  lives,  and 
if  they  are  all  executed  no  injustice  will  be  done 
them.  The  prince,  a  most  wise  and  benevolent 
man,  sees  however  that  it  will  promote  the  happi- 
ness of  his  immense  empire  for  five  to  be  pardoned 
and  five  executed,  and  for  the  whole  to  be  brought 
about  in  a  way  most  clearly  to  illustrate  both  his 

*  Ps.  ii.  1,  8.  and  Ixxxix.  3,4, 19—37.  Isai.  liii.  10—12.  Mat.  xx.  23. 
and  xxii.  14.  andxxv.  34.  John  vi.  37,  39.  and  x.  1—29.  and  xv.  16.  and 
xvii.  2.  Acts  xiii.  48.  and  xviii.  10.  Rom.  viii.  30.  and  ix.  11 — 13.  Eph. 
\.  4—12.  and  ii.  10.  and  iii.  11.  1  Thes.  v.  9.  2  Thes.  ii.  13.  2  Tim.i.  9. 
Tit.  i,  1.2.    Rev.  xiii.  8. 


'CtECT.    IX.]  ELECTION.  179 

justice  and  mercy.     He  settles  in  his  mind  what  he 
iiimself  will  do,  and   being  a  prophet  foresees  the 
conduct  of  the  prisoners.     With  every  part  of  the 
issue   full  in  his  view,   he  collects  thousands  of  his 
subjects  to  witness  the   transaction,  and  repairs  to 
the    prison.      He  orders   the   bolts  and   bars  to  be 
removed  from  the  first  cell,  the  door  to  be  thrown 
wide    open,    and   the    chains    to    be     struck    off. 
"Now,"  says   he,   "unhappy  men,  I  have  put  it  in 
your  power  to  come  forth.     No  bars  or  chains  con- 
fine you.     If  you  will   approach  and   kneel  before 
me   and  confess   your  crime  and  implore   forgive- 
ness  and  submit  to  my  government,  I  will  pardon 
you    and   raise    you   to   my    throne."     "We  cannot 
do    it,"   say    they.       "Cannot!    the   door    is    open 
land    the    chains    are   oft';    what    hinders?"       "^Fe 
ihumble   ourselves  at   your  feet   as  criminals    and 
sue  for  pardon!  we    will    die    first.     We  were  op- 
pressed, and  have  only  made   an   effort  to  support 
(Our  rights."     The   prince   expostulates  and  pleads 
with  them,  but  they  still  refuse.      He  then  appeals 
to  the  spectators:    "Do  /cause  the  death  of  these 
unhappy  men?"      Every  voice  firmly  answers,  no, 
"Are   they  not  free  in   their  refusal?"      The  whole 
multitude  testify  that  they  are,     "Can  more  be  ex- 
pected from  me'5?"     A^othing  more,   is  the  universal 
response.       "Will  not  their  blood  be  upon   their 
own  heads?"     Upon  their  own  heads  forever,  says  the 
common  sense  of  a  world.      He  bars  their  prison 
and  orders  them  to  execution.      He  then  goes  to^ 
I  the  second  cell,   throws  open  the  door,  strikes  off 
the  chains,  and  offers  pardon  to  the  other  five   on 
the  same  conditions.      They  also  refuse.     He  ex- 
postulates and  pleads  with  them.     They  still  refuse. 
He  then   appeals   to   the    spectators,   and   receives 
the  same  answers.     Thus  far  the  cases  are   paral- 
lel.     Now   we  will  suppose  that  the  prince  posses- 
es  power  by  laying  his  hand  on  the  prisoners  to 


^^^  ELECTION.  [lECT.    XI 

melt  them  into  submission.     He  lays  his  hand  oi 
them;  they   fall  at  his   feet,  accept  of  pardon,  anc 
are  raised  to  his  throne.     No  act  of  their  lives  wm 
ever  more  free,  for   they  submitted    willingly  anc 
with  all  their  heart.     Afterwards  the  prince  informs 
the  people  that  he  had  foreseen  the   whole  event 
and  had  determined  on  the  course  he  should  pur- 
sue before   he  left  the   palace;  that  in  the  discrim- 
ination ^which   he  had   made  he    had    been   influ- 
enced only  by  a  regard  for  the  happiness  of  his  em- 
pire; and  that  to  have  subdued  the  first  five  would 
have  marred  the   public  good.      Now  I  ask,   what 
have  you  to  allege  against  that  prince?      If   the 
public  good  required  just  that  exhibition  of  justice 
and  mercy,  would  you  not  have   blamed   him  had 
lie   done    otherwise?      Who    was    injured?       Not 
those   who  perished;    they  only  had  their  deserts: 
nor  were   they  injured  by  the   mercy  shown  to  the 
rest.     In  a  case  where  all  had  forfeited  their  lives, 
had  not  the  prince   a  right  to   reclaim   and  pardon 
whom  he  would?  to  select  that  number  and  those 
individuals  whose  deliverance  would  most  promote 
the   happiness  of  his  kingdom?      Whose    freedom 
did  he  impair?      Whom   did  he  defiaud?      Whom 
did  he  compel  to  die?     Nay,  as  justice  to  his  king- 
dom would  not  allow  him  forcibly  to  reclaim   the 
whole,   the    prisoners    themselves   compelled   him 
either  to  abandon  them  all  to  their  fate  or  make  the 
discrimination  which  he  did.     Had  they  yielded  of 
their  own  accord,  as  they  ought  to  have  done,  he 
would  have  had  no  occasion  to  do   more   for  one 
than  another.     But  as  it  was  he  must  discriminate 
or  resign  them  all  to  destruction.     Now  if  his  con- 
duct at  the  j^frison  was  right,  what  have  you  to  allege 
against  his  previous  ;?Mrpo5e?     Was   it  wrong  to  de- 
termine  to  do  a  right  thing?      And  how  could  the 
prisoners  be  injured' by  the  mere  desig7i?   They  were 


t^ECT.   IX.]  ELECTION.  181 

bot  at  all  affected  by  what  was  devised  in  the  pal- 
ace, but  only  by  what  was  done  at  the  prison. 
j    As   I  understand  the  doctrine   of  election  this  is 
^n  exact  illustration  of  it.     Mankind  received  from 
ihe  hand  of  God  full  powers   to  obey  him.     They 
dnned  and  forfeited  their  lives,  and  were  like  pris- 
oners condemned  to   die.     The   atonement  opened 
ill  their  prisons  and  struck  off  all  their  chains.  The 
tnvitation  is  sent  to  all.     All  possess  natural  ability 
Ito  comply,  (as  will  be  distinctly  shown  in  the  next 
^lecture;)   but  all  refuse.     Tliey  are  entreated,  but 
Ihey  still  refuse.     At  this  point  election  comes  in. 
[t  is  their  own  fault  that  there  is  need  of  a  divine 
interposition  to  subdue  their  obstinacy.  This  neces- 
sity they  and  not  God  created.  They  ought  to  com- 
ply of  their  own  accord  and  not  wait  to  be  compel- 
led.    They  are  able  but  "will  not."     Not  a  child  of 
Adam  will.  The  whole  race  will  refuse  till  they  die, 
unless  subdued  by  divine  power, — not  because  they 
pire  too  feeble,  but  because    they  are  so  had.     This 
universal  obstinacy,  which  alone    renders  a   special 
interposition  necessary,  obliges   God    to   decide — 
whether  to  save  all,  or  save  none,  or  subdue  such  a 
Ipart  as  his  wisdom  sees  best.     He  cannot  save  all 
consistently  with  the  good  of  the  universe.  His  com- 
passion will  not  allow  him  to  abandon  all  to  destruc- 
tion.    The  only  choice  left  him  is  to  conquer  whom 
he  will.     This  necessity,  not  he  but   the  obstinacy 
of  sinners  created.     It  grows,  not  out  of  their  in- 
lability,  but   out   of  their    desperate  wickedness.     He 
forces  none  to  hell;  they  go  of  their  own  accord;  he 
only  forces  as  it  were,  a  part  to  heaven.     And  this 
he  does  for  as  many  as  the  interest  of  the  universe 
allows.     The  rest  are  left  untouched,  unshackled, 
to  pursue  their  own  chosen  way,— with  full  power 
ito  live,  but  choosing  death  rather  than  life.     And 
now,  after  salvation  is  provided  for  them,  and  offered 
to  them,  and  is  obstinately  refused,  does  it  become 
16* 


^®2  ELECTION.  [leCT.  IX; 

them  to  throw  the  blame  on  God,  and  complain  tha- 
^^  created  them  to  be  damned?  He  did  not  create  then 
to  be  damned      He  created  them  to   be  saved,  amio 
hey  have  "sold"  their  -birth-right"  for  a  contempt  ^ 
ble  mess  of  "pottage,"     The    truth  is,  he  foresav  . 
them   in  existence  and   actually  refusing,  before  he 
had  an   opportunity   to  decide  whether  to  subdue, 
them  or  not.     In  the  order  of  nature  the  discrimin-  p 
ating  decree  foUo2ved  their  refusal,   as  the  two  eter-  I 
naJJy  lay  m   the  divine  mind.     And  in  its  execution  fi 
the  decree  does  not  touch  them  till  after  they  have  t 
existed  and  refused.     In  both  views  the  discr.mina-  li 
tion  is  to  be   considered  as  following  their  refusal, 
and  not  as  preceding  their  existence. 

Hitherto  I  have  treated  the  subject  in  conformity 
to  the  common  apprehension,  that  succession  and  the 
relations  of  before  and  after  are   predicable  of  the 
divine  existence.     To   this   apprehension    the  lan- 
guage oi  Scripture  is  also  accommodated.     But  the 
objection  last   started,  and  many  other  difficulties, 
will    be  more  effectually  obviated  by  recurring  to 
the  real  mode  of  God's  existence.     To  him  eterf  ity 
IS  but  one  moment.     He  knows  no  lapse  of  time 
and  except  what  relates  to  the  order  of  nature,  no 
before  or  after.     All  to  him  is  eternal  now.     On  the 
scale  of  creatures  there  is  indeed  a  before  and  after 
lo  them  the  execution  of  his  decrees  is  in  succes- 
sion,     lo  them  an  eternal  decree  is  a  jt?r6-de termin- 
ation.    Not  so  with  him.     With  him  the  existence 
ot  creatures  was  as  early  as  the  decree.     With  him 
the  purpose  and  the  execution  are  in  the  same  mo- 
ment.    His  eternal  decree  is  nothing  but  a  design 
existing  in  one  eternal  now,— is  nothing  but  a  pres- 
ent  purpose  eternally  the  same.*     Were  it  perfectly 

o/e  e!^r7au"^f  FiftWtS  tVh^^^^^^  ^'^  ^^'^^--  ^'""^^  -  - 

and  now  he  sees  me   o^eS  mLt  not    h."  i'^^-  '"^  l^''^'"^  ^'  ^^^'  ^™«' 
this  is  taking  foiZrZSthS^T^l]'?      "  T"^'  ^^  successive?  Now 

which  to  creLre/passedfif^^.  years  a^^^^^  '°  P'^""'  '^'^'  ^^/  ^'"^« 

fa^^viA  nny  years  ago^  and  the  present,  are  two  distinct 


LECT.  IX.]  ELECTION*  183 

easy  for  us  to  conceive  of  this  mode  of  his  being, 
we  could  readily  see  that  the  existence  and  refusal 
of  men  stand  before  the  discriminating  decree,  (I 
speak  of  the  order  of  nature^  the  order  of  time  is 
excluded,) — stand  before  the  decree  as  they  are  ar- 
ranged in  the  divine  mind;  that  he  sees  men  exist- 
ing and  refusing  before  he  determines,  or  has  an  op- 
portunity to  determine,  whether  to  subdue  them  or 
not;  and  that  election  amounts  only  to  this, — he 
finds  men  in  existence  and  refusing  his  grace,  and 
then  determines  whom  to  conquer  and  whom  to 
leave  uninfluenced.  But  when  you  talk  of  his  cre- 
ating them  to  be  damned,  you  put  the  discrimination 
before  their  existence,  as  the  two  lie  together  in  the 
divine  mind. 

That  which  to  creatures  is  ;9re-destination  is  to 
God  only  a  present  purpose.  It  comes  out  then  at 
last  that  the  decision  made  in  election  is  only  the 
decision  of  his  present  will,  existing  the  same  from 
eternity  to  eternity.  The  doctrine  of  election,  thus 
disentangled  from  our  crude  conceptions,  anaounts 
only  to  this:  it  depends  on  the  pre^e?!^  decision  of 
God,  not  whether  salvation  shall  be  provided  for  sin- 
ners, for  Christ  died  for  all,— not  whether  pardon 
shall  be  offered  to  them,  for  it  is  offered  without 
money  and  without  price, — not  whether  they  shall 
have  power  to  accept,  for  they  are  abundantly  able; 
but,  when  they  obstinately  refuse,  whether  he  will 
make  them  "willing  in  the  day  of  [his]  power." 
If  they  will  not  repent,  but  lay  him  under  a  neces- 

periods  with  God.  He  indeed  perceives  the  scale  on  which  creatures 
reckon  time,  and  sees  them  lying  along  on  that  scale  at  dillerent  points} 
but  his  eternal  now  stands  equally  opposite,  if  I  may  so  say,  to  every  part 
of  the  scale.  That  this  is  his  real  mode  of  existence,  is  capable  of  all  the 
proof  that  such  a  subject  admits.  The  idea  of  an  eternal  succession  of 
views  and  exercises,  involves  all  the  absurdity  of  an  injinite  number.  It 
implies  also  imperfection  of  knowledge,  as  it  supposes  a  constant  acces- 
sion of  new  ideas,— and  mutabilitv,  as  it  supposes  a  contmual  change. 
"But  beloved,  be  not  ignorant  of  this  one  thing,  that  one  day  is  with  the 
Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day."  (2  Pet. 
iii.  8.) 


184  ELECTIOxV.  [lECT.  IX 

sity  to  compel  them  or  leave  them  to  perish,  prav 
give  him  the  common  liberty  of  a  man,  to  choose 
lor  himself  whether  to  act  or  not.  Allow  him  the 
treedom  not  denied  to  slaves,  to  determine  whether 
to  bestow  or  withhold  a  free  gift.  What  difficulty 
then  remains?  But  I  hold  you  to  facts.  You  know 
at  this  moment,  that  it  does  depend  on  his  present 
Will  whether  you  shall  ever  have  a  new  heart.  This 
IS  a  matte?'  of  fact  which  you  will  not  deny.  Well 
election  amounts  to  nothin.cr  more,— with  this  single 
addition,  that  hisp-e^e^^  will  is  the  will  of  one  eter- 
nal  NOW. 

When  men  are  anxious  and  uncertain  about  their 
salvation,   they  are  apt  in  their  approaches  to  God 
to  conceive   of  an  old  constitution  which   binds  his 
hands  and  leaves  him  no  liberty  to  follow  his  present 
choice,--or  of  an  old  catalogue,    in   which  if  their 
names  do  not  happen  to  be  found,  he  cannot  save 
them  if  he  will.     But  this  is  a  crude  conception. 
1  here    is  no  constitution   or   catalogue   or  decree 
which  to  hm  is  old.     The  world    is   now  xroverned 
by  his  prese?it  will,  just  as  though  his  purposes  were 
all  formed  to-day,-just  as  though  he  now  began  to 
be.     It  he  has  now  a   wish  to  change  your  heart 
there  is  no  ancient  decree  to  prevent.  It  is  his  pres-' 
ent  will  that  must  decide  your  fate.     On  that  alone 
you  are  cast. 

From  this  view  of  the  subject  I  infer  that  elec 
tion  ought  not  to   be  regarded  as  any  discourage- 
ment to  prayer.     It  is  only  because  the  vulgar  no- 
tion of  succession  in  God  is  always  intruding,  bring- 
ing  with  It  the  phantom  of  a  decree  which  to  him    i 
IS  old  that  this  doctrine  has  ever  been  thoucrht  to    ' 
interfere  with   our  encouragements  to  pray.''  And 
indeed  if  there  was  an  old  decree  or  constitution  or 
catalogue  which   bound  his   hands,  it  would   be  in 
vam  to  apply  to  his  present  will.     But  no  such  an- 
cient statute  has  barred  the  door  of  access.     The 


LECT.  IX.]  ELECTION.  185 

way  is  now  as  open  to  his  very  heart  as  though  he 
began  to  exist  to-day.  Nor  is  it  inconsistent  with 
his  unchangeableness  that  he  should  be  really  affected 
by  prayer.  If,  agreeably  to  the  literal  construction 
oifhis  word,  the  prayers  which  are  now  offered  really 
affect  his  heart,  it  only  proves  that  as  they  have 
3ternally  lain  before  him,  they  have  eternally  and 
unchangeably  affected  his  heart.  If  then  you  can 
now  present  prayers  fit  to  be  regarded  on  Christ's 
account  by  infinite  purity  and  compassion,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  way  of  his  being  as  readily  affected 
by  them  as  any  father  is  by  the  cries  of  his  suffer- 
ing children.  He  has  a  heart  easily  touched  with 
the  voice  of  penitent  distress,  from  whatever  quarter 
it  comes.  His  infinite  tenderness,  his  readiness  to 
listen  to  every  sigh  of  a  broken  heart  offered  through 
his  Son,  is  a  truth  in  which  all  his  mercy  is  involved, 
— for  which  all  his  perfections  stand  pledged.  This 
blessed  truth  it  is  your  duty  to  believe,  (without  any 
gloomy  exception  against  yourself,)  as  firmly  as  you 
believe  your  existence.  Your  sense  of  it,  your  con- 
fidence in  it,  cannot  be  raised  too  high.  This  very 
confidence  is  the  greatest,  the  most  difficult,  the 
most  essential  effort  of  faith.  Give  it  full  scope; 
it  cannot  go  too  far.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in 
election  to  depress  its  flights.  Election  only  touches 
the  question  whether  you  shall  be  constrained  to  feel 
this  confidence.  But  if  you  feel  it,  there  is  nothing 
in  the  doctrine  to  discourage  its  boldest  triumphs. 
If  you  have  never  exercised  it  before,  there  is  noth- 
ing in  the  doctrine,  (unregenerate  as  you  are,)  to 
discourage  you  from  exercising  it  now.  It  will  only 
be  confiding  in  an  everlasting  truth,  which  the  doc- 
trine has  no  influence  to  destroy.  It  is  a  truth,  as 
unchanging  as  the  perfections  of  God,  that  he  is 
ready  to  hear  at  all  times,  from  whatever  quarter  it 
comes,  the  cry  of  penitent  grief  and  filial  confidence 
ofiered  through  his  dear  Son.     Go  then  directly  to 


186  ELECTION.  [lECT.  I^ 

his  present  will,  to  his  inmost  heart,  with  the  agon 
and  confidence    of  Jacob.     Do   you    hesitate    anii 
tremble    from  a   doubt   about  your  election?     Bu 
what  has  this  to  do?  You  know  that  if  you  offer  suc> 
prayers   you   shall  be   accepted  upon  every  plan,— 
that  if  you  do  not  offer  such  prayers  you  cannot  b( 
accepted  upon  aw?/  plan.  You  doubt  perhaps  whethej 
your  prayers  are  sincere;  but  this  has  nothing  to  dc 
with  election;  for  none  but   sincere  prayers  can  be 
accepted  whether  election  is  true  or  false.    Do  you 
find  the   dreadful  proof  that  your  prayers  are   un- 
holy? Even  then  you   are  not  delivered   over  to  an 
ancient  decree;  you   are    only  cast  upon  his  present 
wdl.     If  that  will   which,   self-moved,    let  down    a 
hand  to  raise   Abraham  and  David  from  unregener- 
acy,   is  pleased  to  pluck  you  from  destruction,  you 
live.     Upon  that  will  throw  yourself  in  the   last  re- 
sort.    Put  your  life  in  your  hand,  cast  yourself  at 
his  feet,   pouring  out   this  sum  of  all  your  hopes, 
*'Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean." 

"But  in  case  I  am  not  elected  he  will  not  receive 
me  if  I  go."     He  will  receive  you  if  you  go,  the 
decree  of  election  notwithstanding.      Election  only 
touches  the  question  whether  you  shall  be  constrained 
to  go.     But  if  you  go  election  does  not  stand  in  the 
way.      If  you  go  you   will   certainly  be  received. 
It  is  the  wickedness  of  unbelief  that  questions  this 
truth, — a  truth  in  which  all  the  mercy  and  sincerity 
of  God  are  involved.      It  is  your  indispensable  duty 
to  believe  it;  you  are  commanded  to  believe  it;  you  ; 
will  be  eternally  punished  for  not  believing  it.      To  i 
doubt  it  is  to  charge  God  with  falsehood  and  perjury  \ 
to  his  face.     Did  you  never  read  that  the  "faith" 
without   which   "it   is  impossible    to   please  him," 
believes  "that  he  is  a  reivarder  of  them  that  diligently 
seek  himV'"^  Be  you  elected  or  not,   God  is  this,-^ 
and  you  ought  to  believe  it  with  the  most  unwaver- 

*^  Heb,  xi.  6. 


r^ECT.    IX.]  ELECTION.  187 

ng  confidence.  You  cannot  entertain  too  exalted 
Ideas  of  his  readiness,  his  eager  desire  to  receive  all 
ivho  truly  apply.  If  you  go  to  him  in  the  fulness  of 
this  feeling,  you  will  find  no  decree  in  the  way. 

From  this  view  of  the  subject  I  infer  also  that 
election  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  sincerity  of  the 
\lnvitations  to  the  non-elect.  God  never  decreed  that 
|the  invitations  should  be  rejected;  but  when  all  men 
agree  to  reject  them,  he  only  determines  whom 
he  will  make  willing.  The  discriminating  decree 
comes  in  after  the  rejection.  It  stands  in  this  order 
in  the  Eternal  Mind;  it  stands  in  this  order  when  it 
is  executed.  To  God  the  decree  and  the  execution 
are  in  the  same  moment;  to  him  no  part  of  the 
discrimination  is  before  the  refusal,  even  in  the 
order  of  nature.  It  is  as  though  a  man  were  to 
invite  you  to  his  house,  with  no  other  purpose  than 
to  give  you  a  kind  reception,  and  after  your  refusal 
should  form  other  designs  concerning  you.  If  we 
could  familiarly  apprehend  the  idea  of  an  eternal 
JYow,  this  would  be  seen  to  be  an  exact  account  of 
the  overtures  to  the  non-elect. 

But  to  pass  from  the  mode  of  God's  existence  to 
the  scale  of  creatures,  if  any  thing  lies  against  the 
sincerity  of  the  invitations,  it  is  merely  the  fore- 
knowledge that  they  will  be  rejected.  But  this  ob- 
jection is  to  be  met  upon  every  plan  that  does  not 
deny  the  omniscience  of  God.  And  it  lies  equally 
against  the  sincerity  of  the  invitations  to  the  elect 
before  they  are  renewed.  This  objection  points  its 
force,  not  against  election,  but  against  foreknow- 
ledge, and  equally  embarrasses  every  plan  short  of 
downright  atheism.  The  common  answer  which 
Arminians  give  to  this  objection  is,  that  inasmuch 
as  the  sinner  is  able  to  accept,  and  is  not  prevented 
by  God;  inasmuch  as  God  is  willing  that  he  should 
come  if  he  will,  and  stands  ready  to  receive  him  if  he 
comes,  the  invitation  is  to  be  considered  sincere 


^^^  ELECTION.  [lECT.    IX 

notwithstanding  the  forekowledge.  Precisely  the 
same  is  my  answer;  and  if  the  Arminian  scheme  k 
thus  freed  from  the  difficulty,  so  is  the  doctrine 
which  I  am  supporting.  I  only  add  to  their  idea 
that  God  is  able  to  conquer  the  rebel  if  he  will. 

But  I  have  another  thing  to  say.     God  is  exhib-^ 
ited   m    the  Scriptures  in  two  distinct  characters; 
as  the  main-spring  of  motion,  (that  is,  of  holiness,) 
and  as  the  moral  Governour  of  the  world,  holding  in 
his  hands  the  rights  of  the  Godhead,  and  command- 
ing, threatening,  punishing,  inviting,  promising,  and 
rewardmg.     These  two  departments  are  so  distinct 
as  to  belong  to  two  different  Persons  in  the  God- 
head; the  former  being  the  office  work  of  the  Spirit, 
the  latter  the  office  work  of  the  Father.     Now  for 
the  Father  to  invite  those  whom  the  Spirit  does  not 
sanctify,  implies  no  more  inconsistency  than  for  the 
Son   to  mediate  for  those   with  whom   the  Father 
IS  displeased.      As  the  act  of  the  Spirit  leaves  the 
moral  agency  of  men  entire,  the  Father  may  reason- 
ably address  them  as  complete  agents, — agents  as 
entirely   distinct   from   him    as   from    each*  other. 
There  is  no  exercise  of  a  moral  government  upon 
any   other   principle.     No  other  principle  accords 
with  truth;  for  men  are  complete  moral  agents,  and 
as  distinct  from  God  as  from  each  other.     And  it  is 
no   less   reasonable    for    him    to  command,    invite, 
promise,    and   threaten    his   subjects,    than    for   an 
earthly  prince  to  do  this;  and  he  is  as  sincere  in  his 
invitations  and  promises,  even  to  those  who  reject 
his  calls,  as  any  earthly  prince  could  be.    In  estimat- 
ing the  sincerity  of  these  addresses,  you  are  to  lay  out 
of  account  the  physical  agency  of  the  Spirit,  since  this 
in  no  degree  interferes  with  the  freedom  of  sinners, 
nor  with  the  Father's  readiness  to  receive  as  many 
as  apply.     Lose  yourselves  in  contemplating  him  in 
the  simple  light  of  a  moral  Governour,  full  of  love 
and  mercy,  having  nothing  to  do  with  the  work  of 


ECT.    IX.]  ELECTION.  189 

onstraining  men,  sending  abroad  his  invitations  to 
loral  agents  fully  able  to  comply,  and  actually 
eceivinty  all  who  come:  lay  aside  the  relations  of 
•efore  a°id  after,  and  consider  all  this,  (both  the 
►urpose  and  the  act,)  as  only  present;  and  then  say, 
re  not  his  invitations  to  all  men  smcerer  In  this 
icrht  the  vvhole  subject  appears,  (as  many  can 
e°stify,)  to  a  soul  possessed  of  the  lively  and  realiz- 
ng  views  of  faith. 

But  1  have  one  more  objection  to  meet.      1  hear 
lome  of  you  say,  does  not  this  doctrme  make  God 
I  respecter  of  persons'?  This  depends  on   what  you 
nean  by  the  terms.     If  to  confer  unequal  favours  on 
lis  creatures  is  to  be   a  respecter  of  persons,    he 
s  doubtless  such.     The  fact  meets  you  wherever 
i^ou  turn  vour  eye.     He  gave  more  exalted  powers 
to  men  than  to  worms,  to  angels  than  to  men.     He 
passed  by  those  who  fell  from  heaven  and  provided 
a  Saviour  for  the  human  race.     He  passed  by  the 
pagan    tribes    and   sent  the   Gospel    to   you.      He 
brincTs  one  into  the  world  the  child  of  prayer,  to 
inherit  the  blessings  of  a  pious  family,  while  another 
is  neglected  by  profligate  parents  to  grow  up  "like  a 
wild  ass's  colt."     To  one  he  gives  "five  talents      to 
another  "two,"  to  another  "one."     One  man  is  born 
to  disease  and  unremitting  pain,  another  to  vigorous 
health.     One  inherits  nothing  but  poverty  and  dis- 
grace, another  is  born  to  wealth  and  honour.      One 
is  cut  down  in  infancy,  another  is  suffered  to  reach 
the  utmost  limits  of  human  life.     One  finds  uninter- 
rupted success  in  all  the  labour  of  his  hands  another 
seems  to  live  only   for  disappointment  and  defeat. 
Nor   is  this  always  the    consequence   of  better  or 
worse  management.     "The  race  is  not  to  the  swift 
nor  the  battle  to  the  strong."     Kthen  you  mean  by 
respect  for  persons  the  holy  sovereignty  exercised 
in  these  discriminations,  so  far  from  disowning  it  as 
dero<^atory  to  his  character,  the  great  Proprietor  of 
J7 


to 


100  ELECTION.  [lECT.  IX. 

heaven  and  earth  claims  it  as  his  glory  and  unaliena- 
ble right.  And  instead  of  taking  offence  at  this,  all 
the  holy  universe  pronounce  with  one  voice,  "Amen 
let  none  but  infinite  wisdom  and  love  decide  a  single  1 
event  to  eternity." 

What  then  does  the  sovereign  of  the  world  mean 
when  he  disclaims  the  character  of  being  a  respecter 
of  persons?  He  always  has  reference  to  himself  in 
the  capacity  of  a  judge,  or  of  a  king  reiuarding  and 
punishing,  and  means  no  more  than  this,  that  when 
he  sits  on  the  tribunal  to  pronounce  sentence,  or 
when  he  distributes  rewards  and  punishments,  he 
will  treat  men  according  to  their  naked  characters, 
unbiassed  by  any  other  consideration,  uninfluenced  by 
any  private  partialities,  as  for  Jews  against  Gentiles, 
for  apostles  against  common  Christians,  for  members 
of  the  Church  against  infidels,  for  the  learned  against 
the  ignorant,  for  the  rich  against  the  poor,  for 
masters  against  servants,  for  kings  against  peasants. 
That  this  is  certainly  his  meaning  will  appear  from 
a  single  glance  at  the  passages  in  which  the  phrase 
is  used.  Jehoshaphat  said  to  the  judges,  "Take 
heed  what  ye  do,  for  ye  judge  not  for  men,  but  for 
the  Lord  who  is  with  you  in  the  judgment; — for 
there  is  no  iniquity  with  the  Lord  our  God.  nor  re- 
spect of  persons,  nor  taking  of  gifts,"  (bribes.) 
Moses  said  to  the  people,  "Be  no  more  stiff-necked,  r 
for  the  Lord  your  God  is — a  great  God,  a  mighty, 
and  a  terrible,  which  regardeth  not  persons  nor 
taketh  reward,  (bribes:)  he  doth  execute  the  judgment 
of  the  fatherless  and  widow."  "Shall  even  he," 
said  Elihu,  "that  hateth  right  govern,  and  wilt  thou 
condemn  him  that  is  most  just?  Is  it  fit  to  say  to  a 
king,  Thou  art  wicked? — How  much  less  to  Him 
that  accepteth  not  the  persons  of  princes,  nor  re- 
gardeth the  rich  more  than  the  poor. — He  striketh  them 
as  wicked  men  in  the  open  sight  of  others,  because 
- — they  cause  the  cry  of  ihe  poor  to  come  unto  him. 


.ECT.  IX.]  ELECTION.  191 


—He  respecteth  not  any  that  are  wise  of  heart." 
iVhen   Peter    beheld   the  tokens  of  divine   favour 
o  the  first    Gentile  converts,  he  said,  "Of  a  truth 
[  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons, /or  mi 
very  nation  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh  righieous- 
less   is  accepted  with  him."     Paul,  looking  forward 
iio  "the  day  of  w^rath  and  revelation  of  the  righteous 
:w(Zo-?7zen^ofGod,"says,  "Who  will  render  to  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds, — tribulation  and  anguish  upon 
every  soul   of  man  that  doeth  evil,  of  the  Jeiv  first 
and  also  of  the  Gentile;  but  glory,  honour,  and  peace 
to  every  man  that  worketh  good,  to  the  Jew  first 
and   also    to    the    Gentile;  for    there   is   no   respect 
of  persons   with  God."     Speaking  of  the   apostles 
and  Christians  in  the  mother  church  at  Jerusalem, 
he  says,  "Whatsoever  they  were  it  maketh  no  matter 
|to  me;  God  accepteth  no  man's  person."      That  is, 
^either  membership  in  the  mother  church  nor  even 
an  apostleship  is  regarded  by  him  who  looks  only  at 
Ithe   naked  character.     To  masters  and   servants  he 
says,  "Ye  masters,  do  the  same  unto  them,  forbear- 
ling  threatening,  knowing  that  your  Master  also  is  in 
heaven,    neither   is   there  respect  of  persons   with 
him."     "Servants,  obey  in  all  things  your  masters, 
— knowing  that  of  the  Lord  ye  shall  receive   the 
reward: — but  he  that  doth  wrong  shall  receive  for  the 
wrong  which  he  hath  done;  and  there  is  no  respect  of 
persons."      But  Peter  brings  this  matter  to  a  point: 
"If  ye   call  on  the   Father,   who   without   respect 
of  persons  judgeth  according  to  every  man's  ivork." 
So  when  the  Herodians  constituted  Christ  a  judge 
in    the    question    about   paying    tribute    to   Cesar, 
they  say,  "Neither  acceptest  thou  the  person  of  any, 
but  teachest  the  way  of  God  truly;"  pretending  to 
say,  that  he   would   give   a  just  judgment    without 
partiality  even  to  an  emperor. 

Turn  now  to  the  passages  in  which  the  phrase  is 
used  in  reference  to  men.  In  every  case  when  thus 
applied  it  refers  to  men  appointed  io  judge  for  God. 


192  ELECTION.  [lECT.  U 

"I  chargred  your  judges, — saying,  hear  the  caus 
between  your  brethren   and  judge  righteously: — y 
shall  not  respect  persons  in  judgment,  but  you  shal 
hear  the  small  as  well  as  the  great, — -for  the  judgmen 
is  God^s.^^      "Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judg 
ment;    thou  shalt  not  respect  the  person  of  the  poor 
nor  honour  the  person  of  the  mighty;  but  in  righteous 
ness   shalt  thou  judge  thy  neighbour J^     "Thou  shall' 
not  iv7'est  judgment;  thou  shalt  not  respect  persons 
neither  take  a  gift,  [a  bribe,'] — That  which  is  altogethcE 
just  shalt  thou  follow."      "It  is  not  good  to  have  re-; 
spect  of  persons  in  judgment.     He  that  saith  unto  the 
wicked,    Thou  art  righteous,    him   shall    the    people 
curse."      "To  have  respect  of  persons  is  not  good, 
for  ybr  a  piece  of  bread,  [a  bribe,]  that  man  willtra^is- 
gress.^^     In  allusion   to   church  assemblies  held  to 
judge  of  controversies  between  brethren,  James  says, 
"Have   not  the    faith   of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — 
with  respect  of  persons.     For  if  there  come   into 
your  assemblies  a  man  with  a  gold  ring  in  goodly, 
apparel,  and  there  come  in  also  a  poor  man  in  vile  rai- 
ment; and  ye  have  respect  to  him  that  weareth  the  gay 
clothing,  and  say  unto  him,  Sit  thou  here  in  a  good 
place,  and  say  to  the  poor,  Stand  thou  there,  or  sit 
thou   here    under  my    footstool;   are  ye   not   then 
partial  in  yourselves,  and  are  become  judges  of  evil 
thoughts? — But   if  ye  have  respect  to  persons  ye 
commit  sin."* 

These,  I  believe,  are  all  the  instances  in  which 
the  phrase  is  found  in  the  Bible,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  single  passage  in  which  it  is  perhaps  im- 
properly introduced  into  our  translation. f  And 
what  do  all  these  passages  prove.^  that  when  God 
acts  in  the  character  of  a  judge,  or  when  he  distrib- 

*Lev.  xix.  15.      Deut.   i.   16,  17.   and  x.  16—18.  and  xvi.  18—20. 
S.Chron.  xix.  6,  7.     Job  xxxiv.  17—28.  and  xxxvii.  24.     Prov.  xxiv.  23,  24. 
and  xxviii.  21.     Luke  xx.  21.     Acts  x.  34,  35.      Rom.  ii.  5 — 11.  Gal.  ii.  6. 
Eph.  vi.  9.    Col.  iii.  22—25.    James  ii.  1—9.    1  Pet.  i.  17. 
t  2  Sam.  xiv.  14. 


LecT.    IX. 1  ELECTION.  ]  93 

Ites  rewards  and  punishments^  he  will  treat  men  ac- 
cording to  their  naked  character^  unbiassec^   by  any 
j^ther  consideration.     But  they  do  not  deny  the  dis- 
criminating   influence   of  his   holy    sovereignty    in 
^yrming  that  character.     If  he  has  none  of  the  un- 
^^  ust  partialities  of  a  wicked  judge   that   will  acquit 
the  wicked  and   condemn  the  righteous,  yet  has  he 
I  lot   a   right  to    bestow  a  free   gift    on    whom   he 
pleases?     It  is  enough    for   us   to   know   that  the 
'exercise  of  his  sovereignty  is  not  arbitrary,  nor  ca- 
pricious, nor  influenced   by  private  partialities,  but 
by   infinite  wisdom   and   love,   aiming  at  no  other 
object  than   the  general   happiness.     We  may  rest 
assured  that  there   is   a  good  reason  for  every  dis- 
crimination   which   he  makes,   though   that  reason 
is  not  explained   to  us.      And  what  right  has  any 
man    to   complain?       After   salvation    is  provided 
and   offered  and  refused,  does   it  become   him    to 
complain  that  he  is  not  forced  to  accept  it?      Has 
he    merited    salvation  and   that  constraining   influ- 
ence too,  that  he  thinks  himself  authorized  to  com- 
plain?     Was   God   under   obligation   to  provide   a 
Saviour?      And  was  he  bound  moreover  to  force 
that   Saviour   upon    yon?      The   truth   is   that   all 
men  deserve  to  die;  none  have  any  claims  on  God 
for  life;  every  part  of  salvation  is  a  free   unmerit- 
ed gift.     And  shall  not  God  have  the  common  lib- 
erty of  a  man,  to  bestow  a  free  gift  on  whom  he 
pleases?    Who  is  injured  by  it?    The  least  favoured 
of  his  rational  oflfspring  suffer  no  more  than  they 
deserve.     If  you  have  your  deserts   and  others  have 
more,  what  is  that  to  you?     Has  he  not  a  right  to 
do  what  he  will  with  his  own? 

But  after  all  there  is  one  class  of  men  to  whom 
this  doctrine  will  always  present  insuperable  difli- 
culties.  They  are  those  who  would  rather  reign 
themselves  than  to  have  God  reign.  To  people  of 
this  description  the  doctrine  can  never  be  cleared 
*17 


194  ELECTION.  [lECT.    13 

up, — for   this   substantial  reason, — it  is  opposed  t 
their  wishes.     By  this  class  you  may  expect  to  be  ol 
ten  admonished  that  the  doctrine,   if  true,  ough 
never  to  he  preached;  because,  as  they  tell  you,  it  i 
liable  to  be  abused,  and  may,  they  fear,  discourag 
men  and  tempt  them  to  sit  down  without  an  effon 
And  pray  what  doctrine  is  not  liable  to  be  abused 
Must  we  then  suppress  the  whole?     Tell  me  an 
other  thing.     Has  God  revealed  this  truth?  and  ha; 
he  done  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  world?   and  ar( 
you   wiser  than   God?    Has  he  any  where  authon 
ized  his  ministers  to  cover  a  part  of  his  revelationii 
If  not  can  your  advice  be  a  sufficient  warrant?     Dc 
you  think  yourself  authorized   to  give  advice  in  s 
case  which  God  has  decided?     Take  a  little  more 
liberty  and  advise  the  author  of  the  Bible  to  recal 
a  part  of  his  revelation. 

But  shall  I  tell  you  some  of  the  ends  that  may] 
be  answered  by  preaching  this  doctrine?     One  im- 
portant end  is  to  detect  hearts  which  are  unwilling! 
that  God  should  reign, — to  lay  open  those  smooth 
selfish  spirits  which,  while  they  cry  hosanna,  are: 
hostile  to  the  dominion  of  Jehovah.      The  more: 
fully  God  and  the  system  of  his  government  are 
brought  out  to  view,  the  more  clearly  are  the  se- 
crets of  all  hearts   revealed.      Another  end  is  to 
show  the  world  their  real  condition,  their  absolute 
dependance,  and  what  they  owe  to  the  grace  of 
God.     If  it  is  a  fact  that  sinners  are  so  obstinate 
that  they  must  be  subdued,  ought  they  not  to  know 
it?     If  it  is  a  fact  that  God  "worketh  all  things  af- 
ter the  counsel  of  his  own  will,"  shall  this  impor- 
tant part  of  his  character  and  administration  be 
concealed?     If  his  eternal  covenant  with  his  Son, 
and   the  whole  economy  of  grace,  are  what  they 
have  been  represented,  shall  men  be  kept  ignorant 
of  truth  which    constitute  so  large  a  part  of  the 
glory  of  God  and  furnish  so  vast  a  proportion  of 


j    LECT.    IX.]  ELECTION.  195 

,,  the  themes  of  their  everlasting  praise?  Shall  not 
I  sinners  be  told  that  every  part  of  their  salvation 
conies  from  God?  and  shall  not  saints  be  allowed 
to  know  who  has  made  them  to  differ?  Shall  the 
Church  lose  the  happiness  of  seeing  God  on  the 
throne,  and  the  immortal  interests  of  all  men  in  his 
hands?  Shall  not  a  universal  world  be  taught  to 
ascribe  their  whole  salvation  to  him,  and  to  lay 
their  honours  at  his  feet?  Tear  not  from  me, — I  had 
almost  said,  the  sweetest  truth  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem. Deny  me  not  the  happiness  of  knowing  my 
obligations  and  blessing  my  Deliverer!  Hide  not 
from  my  eyes  the  only  foundation  of  human  hope. 


■h/nit;/- 


I^ECTURE    X. 

THE  PLEA  OF  INABILITY  CONSIDERED. 

MATTHEW  XXV,  24—27. 

''''^!m^^nJI'''''''  ''^''  RECEIVED  THE  ONE  TALENT  CAME  AND 
SAID,  LORD,  I  KNEW  THEE  THAT  THOU  ART  A  HARD  MAN  REAP- 
ING  AVHERE  THOU  HAST  NOT  SOWN,  AND  GATHERING  WHERE 
THOU  HAST  NOT  STROWED;  AND  I  wIs  AERAID  aId  WE^tInD 
HID  THy  TALENT  IN  THE  EARTH:  LO  THERE  THOU  HAST  THAT 
irJf  ^^'^"  "'^  ^^^^  ANSWERED  AND  SAID  UNTO  HIM,  THOU 
WICKED  AND  SLOTHFUL  SERVANTJ  THOU  KNEWEST  THA^  I 
REAP  WHERE  I  SOWED  NOT  AND  GATHER  WHERE  I  HAVE  NOT 
STROWED!  THOU  OUGHTEST  THEREFORE  TO  HAVE  PUT  MY 
MONEY  TO  THE  EXCHANGERS,  AND  THEN  AT  MY  COMING  I  SHOULD 
HAVE   RECEIVED   MY   OWN    WITH   USURY.  i  SHOULD 

There  is  a  certain  plea,  often  found  in  the  mouths 
of  sinners  who  hear  the  Gospel  faithfully  preached, 
the  falsity  and  wickedness  of  which   this  parable 
was  intended  to  expose.     The  plea  is,  that  God  re- 
quires more  than    they   are  aUe   to   perform;   that 
they  cannot  change  their  own  hearts,— cf«i?zo^  love 
and  submit   to   him.     And    this   they  urge  as   an 
excuse    for  doing    nothing.      The    parable    repre- 
sents this  as  the  common  retreat  of  every  sinner  un- 
der  the    Gospel.     It  divides   the    Christian  world 
mto  two  parts;  those  who  faithfully  improve  differ- 
ent talents,  and  those  who  call  God  a  hard  master. 
It  puts  this  pretence  into  the  mouth  of  every  cast- 
away     And    where   the    divine   reauirements    are 
clearly  urged,  this  is  the  plea  of  evePy  unregenerate 
man.     If  any  thing  was  wanting  to  complete  the 


LECT.    X.]         PLEA    OF     INABILITY    CONSIDERED.         197 

proof  of  total  depravity,  this  universal  disposition 
to  accuse  God  u^ould  furnish  the  supplement.  The 
plea  is  faJse^  impious^  ruinous,  insincere,  at  variance 
with  other  things  uttered  by  the  same  lips,  and  self-con- 
demning  if  true.  These  are  the  points  which  I  shall 
attempt  to  establish. 

(1.)  The  plea  is  false.  It  is  not  true  that  God 
requires  of  sinners  more  than  they  are  able  to  per- 
form. It  is  not  true  that  they  cannot  love  and  sub- 
mit to  him.  They  have  ample  power,  and  nothing 
prevents  but  their  desperate  wickedness. 

But  the  ability  which  is  ascribed  to  them  ought 
to  be  distinctly  explained.  It  is  a  ?7a^Mr«Z  ability,  in 
distinction  from  a  moral.  By  moral  I  mean  that  which 
hears  relation  to  praise  or  blame.  Whatever  impedi- 
ment is  blamahle  is  a  moral  difficulty;  every  other  is 
natural.  Now  if  there  is  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
their  loving  and  submitting  to  God  but  what  they 
are  to  blame  for,  there  is  no  natural  inability;  and 
if  there  is  no  natural  inability,  there  is  natural  7?oi^er. 
If  nothing  hinders  but  what  is  a  moral  evil,  for  the 
existence  and  continuance  of  which  they  are  to  blame, 
then  there  is  no  natural  or  blameless  inability.  If 
the  impediment  is  moral  or  blameworthy,  it  cannot 
be  natural  or  blameless:  and  where  there  is  no  nat- 
ural inability,  there  must  be  natural  power.  If  they 
could  readily  obey  were  there  no  faulty  cause  to 
prevent,  then  it  is  proper  to  say  that  they  are  able. 
This  is  agreeable  to  the  common  language  of  man- 
kind, and  consonant  with  all  our  ideas  of  power  in 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  If  nothing  but  wicked- 
ness prevents  the  performance  of  an  action,  common 
sense  pronounces  that  there  is  power.  If  nothing 
but  stubbornness  prevents  a  child  from  walking,  you 
say  he  has  power  to  walk.  You  speak  differently 
if  he  is  lame.  Where  the  difficulty  of  overcoming 
an  inclination  is  very  great,  you  still  say  there  is 
power.     You  tell  the  drunkard  that  he  can  abandon 


198  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X. 

his  cups;  and  if  he  denies,  you  have  only  to  drop 
a  little  poison  into  his  glass,  and  it  may  standby 
him  untouched  for  half  a  century.* 

*  You  ask  what  is  our  precise  meaning  and  aim  in  ascribing  to  sinners 
this  natural  ability.  We  certainly  do  not  mean  to  assert  their  independ- 
ence on  God  for  holiness,  or  a  self-determining  power  of  the  will.  Our 
only  object  is  to  make  out  a  complete  basis  of  obligation  and  to  fix  the 
charge  of  guilt, — guilt  always  resulting  from  the  violation  of  obligations. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  fasten  upon  the  conscience  a  sense  of  obligation 
vviihout  making  out  the  existence  of  a  power,  as  it  is  a  common  feeling 
of  mankind  that  they  cannot  be  bound  to  do  what  with  the  best  disposi- 
tions they  have  no  ability  to  perform.  And  it  happens  in  this  as  in  all 
other  cases  that  that  which  is  the  basis  of  obligation  may  properly  be 
denominated  an  ability.  That  basis  is  the  faculties  of  a  rational  soul. 
Wherever  these  faculties  exist  there  is  one  whom  God  has  a  I'ight  to  com- 
mand, and  if  he  disobeys,  to  punish, — none  the  less  for  his  dependance  on 
hini  for  holiness, — none  the  less  for  his  depravity, — none  the  less  for  the 
withholding  of  the  Spirit.  Otherwise  how  could  Judas  be  sent  to  hell?  He 
was  dependant  on  God  for  holiness,  he  was  depraved,  no  Spirit  sancti- 
fied him,  and  A'et  he  was  laid  under  obligations  by  the  divine  law,  and  for 
the  violation  of  those  obligations  he  was  sent  to  hell.  His  obligations 
had  no  other  basis  than  the  faculties  of  a  rational  soul.  And  this  basis 
of  obligation  may  be  properly  denominated  an  ability.  It  bears  the  same 
relation  to  the  obligation  to  serve  God,  that  the  muscular  strength  of  a 
slave  does  to  the  obligation  to  lift  a  weight  when  bidden  by  his  master. 
Without  it  no  obligation  can  be  imposed,  with  it  the  obligation  is  perfect. 
Further,  these  faculties,  combined  with  the  light  involved  in  the  com- 
mand, constitute  exactly  a  power  to  love  and  serve  God  if  the  heart  is 
well  disposed.  Without  the  faculties  a  man  could  not  do  this  even  were 
it  possible  for  him  to  have  a  good  heart,  but  with  the  faculties  he  can. 
Who  will  doubt  that  Judas  could  have  loved  and  served  God  if  his  heart 
had  been  well  disposed.  Here  then  is  a  capacity  or  power  which  leaves 
nothing  in  the  way  but  a  bad  heart,  throwing  all  "the  blame  on  the  sinner  if 
blame  can  exist  in  the  universe.  And  shall  this  power  be  covered  up  by 
a  false  name,  leaving  the  hoi-rld  impression  to  prevail  that  God  com- 
mands men  upon  penalty  of  eternal  death  to  do  what  they  have  no  ability 
to  perform?  If  you  call  these  faculties  a  power  you  only  use  the  word 
as  it  is  used  in  all  the  common  concerns  of  life.  We  seldom  mean  by 
this  term  a  willingness,  and  never  a  power  to  originate  a  disposition,  but 
generally  a  capacity  to  do  a  thing  if  the  man  is  so  inclined.  But  I  go 
further.  Only  allow  moral  to  signify  bearing  a  relation  to  praise  or  bla?/ti\ 
Q-wd  natural  to  be  its  correlate  term,  (points  fully  established  by  the  au- 
thority of  good  use,)  and  there  is  no  avoiding  the  phrase  natural  ability. 
The  only  impediment  in  the  way  of  a  sinner's  loving  God  is  a  depraved 
temper,  for  which  he  is  wholly  to  blame.  If  this  is  an  inability,  it  is  a 
blamable,  and  therefore  a  moral  one.  The  onlij  inability  in  the  way,  if 
any  exists,  is  a  blamable  or  moral  one.  Of  course  there'  is  no  inability 
that  is  blameless  or  natural.  And  if  there  is  no  natural  inability,  there 
must  be  natural  power. 

The  term  ability  when  applied  to  this  subject  expresses  only  that  ca- 
pacity which  is  the  basis  of  obligation.  Any  other  use  of  tlie  word  in 
this  connexion  tends  only  to  confusion.  For  instance,  to  raise  the  ques- 
tion whethermen  can  change  their  own  hearts^  meaning,  not  whether  they 


LECT.    X.]  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  199 

The  single  question  is,  whether  there  is  any  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  loving  God  but  what  sinners  are 
to  blame  for.  As  they  possess  understanding,  \vill, 
and  affections,  and  arc  capable  of  loving  and  hating, 
it  will  be  allowed  that  nothing  prevents  but  a  wrong 
temper  of  heart, — nothing,  (as  has  been  proved  in 
former  lectures,)  but  supreme  selfishness,  producing 
an  implacable  opposition,  too  deep  and  powerful 
to  be  overcome  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Now 
is  this  opposition  a  misfortune  or  a  fault?  A  fault 
surely:  for  if  disinclination  excuses  from  duty,  all 
the  sin  in  the  universe  is  excused,  and  is  no  longer 
sin.  If  in  proportion  as  the  heart  is  opposed  to 
right  it  is  exonerated  from  blame,  God  cannot  make 
a  creature  capable  of  sinning.  If  sin  exists  any 
where  it  must  be  in  the  heart.  The  motions  of  the 
body,  considered  otherwise  than  as  indications  of 
the  heart,  bear  no  more  relation  to  praise  or  blame 
than  the  motions  of  a  clock.  But  if  there  is  sin  in 
the  heart,  it  must  consist  in  the  opposition  of  the 
heart  to  good.  If  that  opposition,  (the  essence  of 
all  possible  sin,)  is  really  an  excuse,  then  sin  is  an 
excuse  for  itself  and  is  no  longer  sin, — the  differ- 
ence between  sin  and  holiness  is  no  more, — both 
are  extinct  and  men  are  machines.  If  disinclina- 
tion excuses  from  obedience,  then  every  law  requir- 
ing men  to  cross  their  inclinations  is  oppression,  and 
punishment  is  tyranny.  Every  trace  of  a  moral  gov- 
ernment, indeed  of  every  other  government,  ought  to 
be  obliterated,  and  buto'nelawremain  to  the  universe, 
and  that  be  for  every  creature  to  do  as  he   pleases. 

have  capacity  to  c^xercisej  but  whether  they  have  ability  to  onginnte  right 
affections,  (a"  work  which  bcloii'^s  to  God  eveu  in  the  liearls  of  the  holy 
an"-ols.)  is  only  turning  away  \he  eye  from  tiiat  g-romul  of  obhgation 
which  the  word  on^ht  to  express  here,  and  utterly  confounding  the  term 
as  applied  to  this  general  subject.  Let  it  mean  notlnng  hut  a  capacity 
which  is  the  basis  of  obligation,  and  the  use  of  it  is  detinite,  intelligible, 
and  important;  let  it  mean  something  that  does  not  belong  to  creatures,  or 
any  thing  but  the  above,  and  it  only  perplexes  and  confounds. 


200  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X. 

The  malignity  of  devils  is  no  more  sinful  than  the 
fury  of  lions,  and  the  love  of  seraphs  no  more  praise- 
worthy than  the  mildness  of  lambs.  The  moral 
Governour  has  lost  his  throne,  and  is  no  more  than 
a  shepherd  among  a  flock  of  sheep  and  goats.  To 
all  this  horrid  length  you  are  pushed  the  moment 
yoiTattempt  to  hold  up  the  opposition  of  the  heart 
to  God  as  an  excuse  instead  of  a  crime, — the  mo- 
ment you  deny  it  to  be  the  very  essence  of  all  sin. 
And  consider,  I  pray  you,  how  it  must  appear  to 
the  majesty  of  heaven  and  earth  for  you  to  stand 
forth  and  plead  that  you  cannot  discover  any  "form" 
or  "comeliness"  in  him  why  you  "should  desire 
him." — Is  he  then  so  unlovely  that  a  rational  mind 
cannot  love  him?  What,  cannot  love  the  infinitely 
glorious  God,  your  Creator,  Preserver,  and  R.edeem- 
er!  Have  you  such  a  heart  as  this9  And  your  heart  is 
you  yourself.  Are  you  then  such  a  wretch,  that  all 
the  motives  which  three  worlds  present  cannot  pre- 
vail on  you  to  love  the  blessed  God?  It  is  an  ever- 
lasting blot  on  creation  that  a  second  word  need  be 
uttered  to  induce  men  to  love  that  Being  whom  all 
heaven  adore.  And  are  you  such  a  wretch  that 
all  the  motives  in  the  universe  cannot  persuade 
you,  and  you  must  be  compelled?  What  an  eternal 
reproach  to  the  name  of  man!  And  do  you  offer 
this  horrid  temper  as  your  excuse?  Is  this  your 
plea?  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  that  this 
is  pleading  guilty.  "How  can  I  love  God?"  How 
can  you  help  it?  How  is  it  possible  to  avoid  loving 
such  a  Being?  Cannot!  You  can  love  every  thing 
else.  You  can  love  sin,  the  most  loathsome  of  ob- 
jects. And  is  it  harder  to  love  infinite  loveliness? 
How  think  you  this  plea  will  appear  at  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  day'?  When  God  shall  arraign 
you,  and  charge  you  with  being  his  enemy,  and 
you  shall  plead  that  you  ivere  his  enemy,  and  so 
much  his  enemy  that  you  could  not  love  him,  what 


LECT.    X.J  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  201 

will  he  say?  Our  text  tells  you  what  he  will  say: 
*'Thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant!"  and  will  then 
command  you  to  outer  darkness,  where  there  is 
weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Have  you  risen 
up  against  God  and  the  universe,  and  committed 
sins  deserving  of  eternal  "shame  and  contempt.^" 
and  do  you  now  ask,  how  can  I  repent'^  How  can 
you  hdp  dying  with  shame  and  self-loathing?  AVhat 
should  you  think  of  a  man  who  Iiad  murdered  his 
father  and  mother,  and  could  not  be  sorry?  Has  the 
Son  of  God  died  to  redeem  you,  and  then  spread 
before  you  the  most  incontestable  proofs  of  his 
mission  and  death?  and  can  you  not  believe'^  Can 
you  not  make  one  thank-offering  to  dying  love.^ 
Can  you  not  help  being  his  enemy,  and  trampling 
his  blood  in  the  dust?  Are  you  such  a  monster  of 
ingratitude  and  wickedness?  And  do  you  still  ask, 
how  can   I  repent? 

You  admit  in  general  that  you  are  to  blame  for 
your  opposition  to  God;  but  it  has  risen  to  such  a 
pitch  that  you  cannot  subdue  it,  and  from  this  task 
you  think  you  ought  to  be  excused.  And  has  it 
come  to  this,  that  a  man  is  to  blame  for  committing 
murder  once,  but  if  he  commits  it  ten  times  and 
forms  the  habit,  he  may  murder  with  impunity?  Or 
to  confine  the  view  to  operations  of  the  mind,  will 
you  say  that  a  man  is  to  blame  for  hating  his  neigh- 
bour a  little,  but  if  he  hates  him  much  he  is  excused? 
Is  it  not  manifest  to  common  sense  that  the  more 
he  hates  the  more  blamable  he  is?  And  on  the  same 
principle,  if  the  sinner's  opposition  to  God  rises  so 
high  as  to  be  unconquerable  but  by  divine  power, 
he  is  on  that  account  the  more  abominable  and 
hell-deserving.  And  does  he  think  to  plead  in 
extenuation  the  very  thing  that  aggravates  his  guilt? 

But  there  are  no  bounds  to  this  plea.      If  you 
accept  it  as  an  excuse  for  not  loving  and  submitting 
to  God,  and  only  exhort  the  sinner  to  be  convicted, 
18 


202  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X. 

the  same  plea  comes  up  again, — he  cannot  convict 
himself.  Press  him  to  be  awakened,  and  he  can- 
not awaken  himself.  Urge  him  to  a  serious  and 
earnest  use  of  means,  and  he  cannot  be  serious  and 
earnest  of  himself.  Tell  him  to  try, — to  bind  his 
thoughts  to  divine  subjects,  and  he  cannot  bind  his 
thoughts  himself.  Quit  the  ground  of  religion,  and 
beseech  him  only  to  govern  his  turbulent  passions, 
and  he  cannot;  to  break  his  bad  habits,  he  cannot; 
to  resist  temptation,  he  cannot;  to  break  away 
from  wicked  companions,  he  cannot;  to  avoid 
swearing,  drunkenness,  uncleanness,  still  he  cannot. 
There  is  nothing  that  he  can  do  but  sin  with  all 
his  might.  This  is  no  picture  of  the  fancy.  At  all 
these  points  men  have  stood,  and  are  daily  stand- 
ing, to  protect  themselves  with  the  tyrant's  plea 
of  necessity.  And  which  of  the  whole  fraternity 
makes  out  the  best  excuse,  it  would  be  hard  to 
determine. 

Not  one  of  you  would  admit  this  excuse  in  a 
plea  against  yourself.  If  one  should  indulge  a 
spirit  of  unreasonable  enmity  against  you,  you 
would  hardly  accept  it  as  an  apology  that  he  hated 
you  so  much  that  he  could  not  love  you.  When 
the  plea  is  against  you,  you  judge  one  way;  when 
it  is  for  you,  another.  How  manifest  it  is  that  your 
judgment  is  perverted  and  blinded  by  selfishness. 
From  that  prejudiced  tribunal  I  appeal  to  common 
sense.  Does  not  common  sense  decide  that  men 
are  without  excuse  for  hating  the  greatest  and  best 
of  beings?  And  if  you  would  allow  the  Bible  to 
enter  its  voice  in  a  question  between  you  and  its 
Author,  that  would  settle  every  doubt.  The  Bible 
uniformly  treats  the  evil  propensities  of  the  heart  as 
utterly  without  excuse.  It  every  where  speaks  in 
terms  of  the  most  pointed  approbation  of  those  who 
are  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  lovers  of  the  world, 
lovers  of   pleasure,    proud,  high-minded,   envious, 


LECT.    X.]  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  203 

wrathful,  hard-hearted,  impenitent,  unbelieving, 
without  love  to  God.  If  men  are  not  to  blame  for 
these  evils  of  the  heart,  we  want  a  new  Bible,  a  new 
moral  government,  a  new  God. 

Only  grant  me  that  it  is  inexcusable  to  disobey 
the  positive  commands  of  God, — commands  addressed 
to  you,  and  issued  in  full  view  of  all  your  embar- 
rassments, and  it  is  settled  that  you  are  without 
excuse  for  not  instantly  loving  and  submitting  to 
him.  That  such  an  immediate  submission  is  re- 
quired, I  shall  presently  show,  and  shall  now  as- 
sume. Here  then  is  a  state  of  things  which  jnust 
bring  blame  on  the  Lawgiver  or  on  you.  If  you 
have  a  good  excuse  for  not  obeying  these  com- 
mands, they  ought  not  to  have  been  issued,  and 
then  the  blame  falls  on  him;  if  you  have  no  excuse, 
the  blame  rests  on  you.  I  know  you  are  striving 
by  all  these  self-justifying  pleas  to  fasten  it  on  God; 
but  I  shall  deem  it  no  assumption,  after  all  that  has 
been  said,  if  I  clear  my  Maker  and  lay  the  blame  on 
you. 

This  brings  me  to  the  end  of  my  argument,  and 
shows  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  the  way  but  what 
you  are  to  blame  for, — none  therefore  but  of  a  moral 
nature, — therefore  no  natural  inability, — of  course 
you  must  have  natural  j^ower. 

Having  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  I  shall  pro- 
ceed to  confirm  it  by  other  considerations.  The 
Bible,  (if  you  will  allow  me  to  quote  that  authority 
in  a  controversy  between  you  and  its  Author,)  rep- 
resents men  as  possessed  of  natural  power,  and  as- 
cribes all  their  embarrassment  to  the  depravity  of 
their  hearts  or  wills.  "O  foolish  people  and  with- 
out understanding,  which  have  eyes  and  see  not, 
which  have  ears  and  hear  noty  "Thou  dwellest 
in  the  midst  of  a  rebellious  house,  which  have  eyes 
to  see  and  see  not,  they  have  ears  to  hear  and  hear 

not,    FOR    THEY    ARE    A  REBELLIOUS    HOUSE."       "Bring 


204  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X. 

forth  the  blind  people  that  have  eyes,  and  the  deaf 
that  have  ears.^^  "They  are  like  the  deaf  adder 
that  sioppcth  her  ears;  which  will  not  hearken  to 
the  voice  of  the  charmers,  charming  never  so  wise- 
ly." "Thus  saith  the  Lord, — In  returning  and 
rest  shall  ye  be  saved,  in  quietness  and  in  confi- 
dence shall  be  your  strength,  and  ye  would  not." 
"Ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  might  have  life." 
"How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children 
together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  un- 
der her  wings,  and  ye  woidd  not,^^  "Those  my 
enemies  which  woidd  not  that  I  should  reign  over 
them,  bring  hither  and  slay  them  before  me." 
^^This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the 
world  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light  because 
their  deeds  were  evil.  For  every  one  that  doth  evil 
hateth  the  light,  neither  cometh  to  the  light  lest  his 
deeds  should  be  reproved.''^  The  moral  Governor  ev- 
ery where  disclaims  the  principle  of  requiring  men 
to  go  beyond  their  power.  "If  there  be  first  a  wil- 
ling mind  it  is  accepted,  according  to  that  a  man 
hath,  and  not  according  to  that  he  hath  not.''"'^ 

But  is  it  not  said,  "No  man  can  come  to  me  ex- 
cept the  Father — draw  him?"  I  answer,  the  Scrip- 
tures often  use  the  word  cannot  to  express  nothing 
more  than  a  strong  disinclination.  "Haste  thee, 
escape  thither,"  said  the  angel  to  Lot,  "for  I  cannot 
do  any  thing  till  thou  become  thither."  Joseph's 
brethren  "hated  him  and  could  not  speak  peaceably 
unto  him."  "The  tabernacle  of  the  Lord, — and 
the  altar  of  the  burnt  oflfering  were — at  Gibeon; 
but  David  could  not  go  before  it  to  inquire  of  God, 
for  he  was  afraid  because  of  the  sword  of  the  angel 
of  the  Lord."  ^^Can  that  which  is  unsavoury  be 
eaten  without  salt?"      "My   iniquities  have  taken 

*  Ps.  Iviii.  4^  5.    Tsai.  xxx.  15.  and  xliii.  8.    Jer.  v.  21.    Ezek.  xii.  2. 
Mat.  xxiii.  37.    Luke  xix.  27.    John  iii.  19.  20.  and  v.  40.     2  Cor.  viii.  12. 


LECT.    X.]  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  205 

hold  U{3on  mc,  so  tliat  I  am  7iot  able  to  look  up." 
*'I  am  so  troubled  that.  I  cannot  speak."  "Then 
said  the  Lord  unto  me,  Though  Moses  and  Samuel 
stood  before  me,  yet  my  mind  could  not  be  towards 
this  people."  "CV//i  two  walk  together  except  they 
be  agreed? — The  Lord  hath  spoken,  who  can  but 
prophesy.^"  "How  can  ye,  being  evil,  speak  good 
things?  for  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the 
mouth  speakeih."  "Ye  can  discern  the  face  of  the 
sky,  but  can  ye  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times.^" 
"Having  eyes  full  of  adultery,  and  that  cannot  cease 
from  sin."  "Ca/j  the  children  of  the  bride-chamber 
fast  while  the  bridegroom  is  with  them?"  "This 
is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  hear  it?"  In  none  of 
these  j)assages  does  the  word  denote  any  thing 
more  than  a  strong  disinclination.  So  when  it  is 
said,  "No  man  can  come  to  me  except  the  Father 
— draw  him,"  the  meaning,  as  it  is  explained  by  the 
same  lips,  is  only  this,  "Ye  will  not  come  to  me  that 
ye  might  have  life."* 

Accordingly  the  Bible  from  first  to  last  treats 
men  as  possessed  of  ample  power.  It  invites  them: 
"Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth."  "The  spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come;  and 
let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come;  and  let  him  that  is 
athirst  come;  and  luhosoever  will  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."  It  expostulates  with  them: 
"As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  i:i  the 
death  of  the  wicked,  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from 
his  way  and  live:  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil 
ways,  for  2vhy  ivill  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel?"  It 
laments  over  them:  "O  that  they  were  wise!  that 
they  understood  this!  that  they  ivould  consider  their 
latter  end!"  "He  beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it, 
saying,  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in 

*  Gen.  xix.  22.  and  xxxvii.  4.  1  Chron.  xxi.  29,  30.  Job  vi.  6.  Vs.  xl. 
12.  and  Ixxvii.  4.  Jer.  xv.  V.  Amos  iii.  3,  8.  Mat.  xii.  3^i.  and  xvi.  3, 
Mark  ii.  19.    John  v.  40.  and  vi.  U,  GO.    2  Pet.  ii.  14. 

18* 


206  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X.     , 

this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  to  thy  peace! 
but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes."^  And  after 
all  have  men  no  more  power  to  turn  to  God  than  to 
make  a  world?  Do  these  heavenly  entreaties  only 
mock  their  miseries?  Do  they  only  tantalize  un- 
happy prisoners  bound  with  fetters  of  iron? 

But  this  is  not  the  worst.  God  absolutely  com- 
mands  sinners  to  love  and  submit  to  him,  to  repent 
and  believe  the  Gospel.  The  law,  which  was  "not 
made  for  a  righteous  man  but  for  the  lawless  and 
disobedient,"  which  "was  added  because  of  trans- 
gressions," says  to  every  sinner,  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy 
soul  and  with  all  thy  might."  And  what  says  the 
Gospel?  God  "now  commandeth  all  men  every 
where  to  repe7it"  "Repent  ye  and  believe.^''  Sin- 
ners are  even  commanded  to  change  ihei?^  own  hearts; 
that  is,  to  cease  to  hate  and  begin  to  love.  '^Make 
you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit,  for  ivhy  will  ye  die?" 
"Circumcise — the  foreskin  of  your  heart.^^  "Let 
the  wicked  forsake  his  way  and  the  unrighteous  man 
his  thoughts. ^^  ^^liend  your  heart  and  not  your  gar- 
ments." ^^Purify  your  hearts,  ye  double-minded. "f 
These  things  God  commands;  and  does  he  require 
impossibilities?  Then  sinners  have  got  their  case  in 
the  long  dispute  which  they  have  been  carrying  on 
with  their  Maker. 

Nor  is  this  all.  God  not  only  commands,  he 
solemnly  threatens  eternal  death  in  case  of  disobedi- 
ence. "If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
let  him  be  anathema  maranatha."  "Except  ye  repent 
ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  "He  that  helieveth  not 
shall  be  damned."  He  not  only  threatens  but  he 
executes.     He  actually  sends  sinners  to  eternal  perdi- 

*  Deut.  xxxii.  29.  Isai.  xlv.  22.  Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.  Luke  xix.  41.  42. 
Rev.  xxii.  17. 

t  Deut.  vi.  5.  and  x.  16.  Isai.  Iv.  7.  Jer.  iv.  4.  Ezek.  xviii.  51.  Joel 
xi.  13.    Mark.  i.  15.    Acts  xvii.  30.    Gal.  iii.  19.    1  Tim.  i.  9.  James  iv.  8. 


LECT.    X.]  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  207 


tion  for  no  other  reason  than  because  they  do  not 
obey  these  commands.  And  still  are  they  unable? 
Are  they  eternally  punished  for  not  doing  impos- 
sibilities? What  then  do  you  make  of  God?  Were 
you  to  see  a  master  beating  his  servant  a  whole  day 
together  for  not  lifting  a  mountain,  you  would  say 
the  man  was  mad.  And  does  God  lay  upon  his 
creatures  eternal  punishment  for  not  doing  what  is 
utterly  impossible?  Is  this  the  God  whom  angels 
love  and  adore?  Nero  was  a  lamb  to  this. 

Some  have  attempted  to  justify  this  supposed 
"  conduct  of  the  Most  High,  by  alleging  that  sinners 
have  destroyed  their  own  power,  and  may  therefore  be 
justly  held  bound  to  do  all  that  they  originally 
could.  "If  a  servant,"  say  they,  "has  cut  off  his 
hands  to  avoid  labour,  may  not  his  master  still 
require  his  task,  and  daily  punish  him  for  neglecting 
it?"  I  firmly  answer,  no.  He  may  punish  him  for 
disabling  himself;  (that  is  the  whole  of  his  crime;)  but  if 
he  daily  abuses  the  cripple  for  not  performing  his 
task  after  it  has  become  impossible,  he  is  a  tyrant 
and  a  monster.  But  the  case  is  still  stronger  when 
you  take  into  account  the  entailment  of  depravity. 
The  servant  did  not  cut  off  his  own  hands:  his 
mother  in  a  sinful  enterprise  fell  with  him  before  he 
was  born,  and  he  was  brought  into  the  world  a 
cripple:  and  now  he  must  be  unmercifully  punished 
every  day  of  his  life  for  not  employing  limbs  which 
he  never  had.  Is  this  a  picture  of  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God!  Read  any  page  in  the  Bible,  and  then 
say, — is  this  the  government  which  that  book  de- 
scribes? 

I  hear  some  one  say,  you  may  reason  me  down, 
but  after  all  it  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  I  cannot.  How 
do  you  know  this^  Did  you  ever  try'}  Did  you  ever 
try  tvith  all  your  heart']  Have  you  ever  done  as  well 
as  you  could  for  a  single  hour?  For  a  single  hour  did 
you  ever  keep  your  thoughts  as  much  on  God  and 


203  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X. 

exert  as  much  earnestness  in  prayer,  and  feel  as 
kindly  towards  God  and  man,  as  you  were  able? 
Have  you  done  this  for  a  whole  month  together? 
Have  you  done  it  through  life?  If  not,  it  is  not  for 
you  to  complain  that  you  have  no  power.  No 
power!  Alas,  as  you  use  power  you  have  too  much^] 
You  have  power  to  resist, — to  resist  so  vigorously 
that  nothing  but  the  arm  of  God  can  conquer  you. 
This  is  the  only  thing  that  prevents  you  from  loving 
and  submitting  to  him.  Do  you  not  resist?  Why  it 
is  as  plain  as  light  that  you  will  not  even  be  convicted. 
What  is  conviction?  It  is  a  deep  sense  of  being 
without  excuse.  And  when  we  attempt  to  penetrate 
you  with  this  sense,  here  you  are  defending  yourself 
against  it  with  all  your  might, — and  then  turn  and 
complain  that  you  have  no  power.  The  truth  itself 
would  have  convicted  you  long  ago  if  you  had  not 
resisted.  Like  the  ever-flowing  light  of  heaven,  it 
would  freely  have  come  in  at  your  window  if  you 
had  not  barred  the  passage.  "T/zw  is  the  con- 
demnation, [not  that  you  cannot  obtain  light,  but] 
that  light  is  come  into  the  world,"  and  you  have 
^^loved  darkness  rather  than  light  because  [your]  deeds 
were  evil.  For  every  one  that  doth  evil  hateth  the 
light,  neither  cometli  to  the  light  lest  his  deeds 
should  be  reproved."*  So  the  nightly  thief,  for 
whom  you  are  searching  in  your  apartments,  will 
endeavour  to  strike  the  lamp  from  your  hand  lest 
the  light  should  detect  him.  The  truth  is  you 
cannot  bear  to  take  the  blame  upon  yourself.  You 
will  cast  it  upon  Adam,  upon  God,  any  where  but 
where  it  ought  to  lie.  And  after  all  these  exertions 
to  resist  conviction,  you  will  make  a  long  list  of 
excuses  for  not  being  convicted,  and  lament  over  it 
as  your  misfortune  and  not  your  fault.  But,  (to 
turn  the  subject  over  for  another  view,)  pray  what 

*  John  iii.  19;  20. 


LECT.    X.]  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  209 

prevents  that  deep  sense  of  divine  things  which  is 
the  conviction  itself,  but  your  unbelief']  And  is 
unbelief  to  be  admitted  as  an  excuse  for  stupidity? 
Does  God  regard  it  in  the  light  of  an  excuse?  No, 
he  charges  it  upon  you  as  your  own  proper  crime,  a 
crime  of  the  deepest  die.  He  pronounces  it  worthy 
of  eternal  rebuke,  and  solemnly  declares,  "He  tliat 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned^  Such  is  the  enemy 
which  bars  your  heart  against  conviction;  and  when 
an  attempt  is  made  to  dislodge  the  foe,  you  stand 
forward  to  protect  it  by  your  tliousand  excuses;  and 
then  say,  you  would  give  the  world  to  be  convicted 
but  have  no  power. 

(2.)  This  plea  is  impious.  It  casts  all  the  infamy 
of  the  sinner's  rebellion  on  God,  and  imputes  to  him 
a  character  which  the  veriest  tyrant  on  earth  would 
blush  to  own, — a  character,  I  may  say,  as  black  as 
Satan  himself.  The  lan^ua^e  is,  "I  knew  thee  that 
thou  art  a  hard  master,  requiring  more  than  thy 
creatures  can  perform,  and  punishing  them  with 
eternal  torment  for  not  doing  impossibilities.  By 
oftering  life  on  such  conditions,  thou  hast  only 
mocked  my  misery;  and  though  I  must  suffer  for- 
ever, I  still  affirm  that  for  missing  salvation  I  am 
not  to  blame."  The  great  point  in  dispute  between 
you  and  your  Maker  is,  who  shall  bear  the  blame. 
He  lays  it  upon  you,  you  cast  it  upon  him.  On 
this  question  the  parties  are  fiiirly  at  issue.  Blame, 
absolutely  infinite,  must  attach  to  one  or  the  other; 
because  endless  misery  is  actually  threatened  and 
inflicted.  If  that  misery  is  not  deserved,  infinite 
blame  attaches  to  him  who  inflicts  it;  if  it  is  de- 
served, infinite  guilt  rests  on  the  suflerer.  God 
declares  that  he  will  lay  all  this  evil  upon  you  for 
not  making  to  yourself  a  new  heart,  not  loving 
and  submitting  to  him,  not  repenting  and  believing 
the  Gospel.  In  this  he  charges  infinite  guilt  on 
you.     You   affirm  that  you  cannot  perform  these 


210  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X.    || 

duties  and  are  not  to  blame  for  the  neglect.  In  this 
you  accuse  him  of  being  the  greatest  tyrant  that 
ever  alarmed  a  distempered  imagination.  Here 
then  is  perfect  war.  No  two  men  were  ever  more 
earnestly  at  strife.  And  yet  you  say  you  are  not  his 
enemy.  I  appeal  to  the  universe  if  this  is  not  enmity 
and  war,  if  this  is  not  high  treason  against  God  in  its 
most  horrid  form. 

(3.)  This  plea  is  ruinous.  It  is  only  an  exertion 
to  steel  your  conscience  against  a  sense  of  blame; 
and  while  you  succeed  you  never  can  be  convicted. 
While  you  say  you  cannot  you  never  can.  The  main 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  conviction,  and  of  course 
one  grand  impediment  in  the  way  of  conversion,  is 
this  very  plea.  The  removal  of  it  is  the  conviction 
itself.  The  removal  of  it  is  therefore  clearing  away 
one  of  the  greatest  obstructions  to  your  salvation. 
This  obstruction  must  be  removed.  You  must  take 
the  shame  and  blame  to  yourself  and  clear  your 
Maker,  or  nothing  can  ever  be  done  for  you.  While 
you  are  striving  to  cover  yourself  with  this  excuse, 
you  know  not  what  you  do;  you  are  taking  the  readi- 
est way  to  ruin  yourself  forever.  If  you  would  not 
perpetrate  the  highest  act  of  suicide,  court  this  con- 
viction, lie  down  under  a  sense  that  you  are  with- 
out excuse  and  draw  it  upon  you  with  all  your  might. 
This  is  the  first  step  that  you  can  take.  If  you  will 
not  take  this  but  will  stand  justifying  yourself  till 
you  die,  you  must  inevitably  perish. 

(4.)  The  plea  is  insincere.  The  worst  of  it  all 
is,  that  after  so  long  abusing  your  Maker  with  these 
horrid  charges,  you  do  not  believe  a  word  of  them 
yourself.  If  you  did,  you  would  not  remain  so  un- 
moved; you  would  be  overwhelmed  with  terrour 
and  dismay.  Were  a  man  locked  up  in  a  burning 
house,  and  knew  the  key  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a 
merciless  tyrant,  you  would  not  see  him  folding  his 
arms  and  walking  at  his  ease  about  the  apartments. 


I  -. 

LECT.  X.J  INABILITr    CONSIDEIIED.  211 

When  we  see  your  knees  smite  like  Belshazzar's,  we 
hall  begin  to  believe  you  sincere.  But  while  you 
pontinue  sporting  along  the  road  of  life  without  one 
anxious  thought  of  God  or  eternity,  we  know  that 
your  plea  is  nothing  but  a  pretence  to  protect  your 
stupidity.  You  do  not  even  believe  that  you  tire  de- 
pendant. Would  to  God  you  did.  You  would  not 
then  treat  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe  with  all 
this  abuse.  You  would  not  thus  boldly  cast  oft'  fear 
and  restrain  prayer.  We  should  hear  you  crying 
for  mercy  with  the  earnestness  of  a  dying  man. — 
But  the  insincerity  of  this  plea  will  be  still  more 
evident  when  we  consider, 

(5.)  How  much  at  variance  it  is  with  other  things 
Uttered  by  the  same  lips.  At  the  moment  you  urge 
this  excuse,  you  deny  the  doctrine  of  election.  Now 
if  what  you  say  is  true,  that  you  are  as  unable  to 
obey  the  Gospel  as  a  dead  man  is  to  rise,  certainly 
your  salvation  depends  on  God;  and  if  he  is  jm- 
changeable,  it  depends  on  his  eternal  will  or  decree: 
and  this  is  election.  The  doctrine  of  election  fol- 
lows from  your  plea  in  a  far  more  terrific  form  than 
that  in  which  I  have  presented  it.  And  yet  you 
brge  the  plea  and  reject  the  doctrine.  You  will 
peither  consent  to  have  power  yourself,  nor  leave 
your  fate  with  God.  If  we  say  you  have  poivcr,  and 
urge  you  to  act,  you  deny,  and  plead  your  inability 
as  an  excuse  for  doing  nothing.  If  we  say  you  are 
dependant,  (though  in  a  far  inferior  sense.)  and  speak 
of  election,  (which  is  an  inevitable  consequence  of 
your  dependance,)  you  again  deny  and  complain. 
My  dear  hearer,  what  do  you  want?  "W^e  hITve  piped 
unto  you  and  ye  have  not  danced;  we  have  mourn- 
ed unto  you,  and  ye  have  not  lamented."  You  will 
neither  have  it  that  you  can  turn  yourself,  nor  that 
it  depends  on  the  eternal,  unchangeable  God  to 
turn  you.  How  then  would  you  have  it?  You  plainly 
know  not  your  own  mind,  and  seem  settled  in  noth- 


212  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.    X.| 

ing  but  to  resist  every  truth  that  happens  to  dis-j 
please  you.     To   engage  in  the   divine  service,  is'"* 
loathsome,  and  that  you  will  not  do;  to  bear   the* 
blame  of  refusing,  you  cannot  consent;  and  there- 
fore you  take  shelter  in  the  plea  of  inability:  to  be 
dependant  on   God's  eternal  choice,  is  insufferable 
to  your  feelings,   (though  this  unavoidably  follows^ 
from  your  own  plea;)  and  therefore  you  oppose  elec-' 
tion.  The  three  things  which  you  desire  are  these;  to' 
be  excused  from  the  divine  service,  to  be  exonerated 
from  the  blame  of  neglecting  it,  and  to  hold  your; 
fate  in  your  own  hands.     When  you  would  avoid* 
the  imputation  of  blame,  you  are  willing  to  have  no; 
power;  but  as  little  power  as  you  have,  you  insist; 
on  deciding  your  own  fate.     We  may  explain  elec-j 
tion  till  we  die,  and  so  long  as  we  leave  your  des-' 
tiny  in  the  hands  of  a  sovereign   God,   you  are  not^ 
satisfied.     We  may  heap  proof  upon  proof  to  es- 
tablish the  point  of  your  ability,  and  so  long  as  the 
argument  attaches  blame  to  you,  you  are  not  con- 
vinced.    Whenever  you  are    brought  to  a  serious: 
concern    about   religion,    then   indeed  the  case  is 
somewhat  altered.     Then  your  sole  desire  is  to  be, 
suffered  to  do  something  short  of  love  and  faith,  and' 
to  induce  God  by  that  means  to  change   your  heart 
and  save  your  soul.    To  be  told  that  you  cannot  in-: 
duce  him  by  such  a  withered  offering,  gives  you  dis- 
tress; to  be  urged  to  do  more,  you  will  not  consent. 
But  let  me  tell  you   that  this  hope  of  moving   God 
by  any  act  that  does  not  rest  on    Christ,  is  the  very; 
definition  o^ self-righteousness.     Yet  here  you  linger,! 
and  here  you  wish  ministers  to  leave  you.     But  ifl 
we  leave  you  there,  you  are  undone.     If  that  self-J 
righteousness  is  not  torn  from  you,  it  will  foreverl 
keep  you  from  Christ.     We  must  still  follow  youj 
with  loud  and  repeated  warnings  not  to  stop  shor^ 
of  a  full  reliance  on  the  Mediator;  and  when  yoifl 
refuse,  we  must  show  you  that  your  obstinacy  casts 


jECT.    X.]  INABILITY    CONSIDERED.  213 

;ou  dependant  on  sovereign  grace.  And  when  we 
lo  this,  you  will  probably  say  that  we  contradict 
)urselves,  and  preach  that  you  can  and  that  you 
:annot. 

(6.)  This  plea,  if  it  were  true,  would  only  condemn 
fou.  It  was  a  miserable  excuse  for  the  slothful  ser- 
vant, that  because  he  expected  his  lord  would  re- 
juire  exorbitant  interest,  he  had  taken  care  that  he 
should  have  none.  Was  this  the  way  to  deal  with 
1  hard  master  who  had  him  in  his  power?  The  plea 
condemned  himself.  If  it  were  true,  he  ought  to 
nave  put  his  money  to  the  exchangers,  and  swelled 
the  amount  to  the  last  limit  of  his  power.  Sinner, 
this  retort  was  intended  for  you.  If  you  have  a 
master  in  heaven  who  requires  more  than  you  can 
perform,  is  this  a  good  reason  why  you  should  do 
nothing^  why  you  should  do  so  much  against  him.'' 
[s  it  a  good  reason  why  you  should  never  pray  in 
your  family,  and  seldom  in  your  closet'?  why  you 
should  not  look  into  your  Bible  once  a  week?  why 
you  should  never  attend  a  religious  meeting  except 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  then  perhaps  but  once  a  day.'* 
If  you  cannot  change  your  heart  are  you  therefore 
obliged  to  push  God  out  of  all  your  thoughts.'*  to 
feel  so  little  reverence  for  him  and  his  institutions.'' 
to  profane  his  holy  day.''  to  utter  so  many  cavils 
against  his  word?  to  violate  so  often,  in  your  deal- 
ings and  conversation,  the  rule  of  doing  to  others 
as  you  would  have  others  do  to  you?  to  utter  so 
much  slander  and  profanity?  and  to  commit  in  va- 
rious ways  so  many  positive  sins9  To  live  altogether 
to  yourself,  and  never  regard  his  glory  at  all, — is 
this  the  way  to  treat  a  hard  master  who  has  you  in 
his  power?  Out  of  thine  own  mouth  shalt  thou  be 
judged,  thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant.  If  your 
plea  is  true,  your  conduct  is  mad. 

Thus  I  have  finished  what  was  proposed.     I  have 
shown  that  this   allegation  against  God  is  false,  is 
19 


214  THE    PLEA    OF  [lECT.  X. 

impious,  is  ruinous,  is  insincere,  is  at  variance  with 
other  things  uttered  by  the  same  lips,  and  is  self- 
condemning  if  true.     And  now  suffer  me  to  be-* 
seech  those  of  you  who  remain  in  sin,  to  renounce 
this  God-provoking  plea  and  acknowledge  yourself 
infinitely  to  blame  for  not  being  convicted,  for  not 
instantly  performing  the  duties  of  repentance  and 
faith.     Between  the   full   charge  contained  in  this 
horrid  plea,  and  this  frank  acknowledgment,  there] 
is  no   middle   ground.     It   is   undeniable   that  for 
only  remaining  unconverted,  I  may  say  unconvict- 
ed, this  one  hour  in  the  house  of  God,  you  deserve 
eternal  death.     And  will  you  still  attempt  to  justify 
yourselves  and  cast  the  blame  on  him.^  After  he  has 
given  you  full  power  to  serve  him,  and  redeemed 
you  from  death,  and  offered  you  life,  and  pressed  it 
upon  you,  and  granted  you  abundant  light,  and  you 
have  resisted  all,  shall  he  bear  the  blame,  and   you 
be  excused?  Do  you  insist  on   this?    Then  you  and 
your  Maker  are  at  open  war.    And  the  contest  must 
last  forever,  or  one  of  the  parties  must  yield.    Shall 
God  submit    to  you,   or  will  you  submit  to   him?  If 
this  controversy  goes  to  trial  at  the  last  day,  I  fore- 
warn you  now  that  the  case  will  go  against  you. 
The  sentence  of  every  holy  being  in  the  universe 
will   be   against   you.      The   conscience   of  every 
reprobate, — your  own  conscience, — will  be  against 
you.     O  agree  with  your  adversary  quickly,  while 
you  are  in  the  way  with  him.     "As  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead, 
be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 

I  have  told  you  your  duty;  and  for  neglecting  it 
you  have  no  excuse.  But  well  I  know  that  till  the 
grace  of  God  subdues  you  your  obstinacy  will  resistij 
all  entreaties.  This  casts  you  at  last,  ruined,  utterlyl 
ruined,  self-ruined,  on  the  sovereign  will  of  God, — | 
a  will  which  all  creation  cannot  change.  At  thej 
moment  you   are  supporting  this  impious   warfare] 


LECT.  X.]  INABILITY     CONSIDERED.  215 

With  your  Maker,  mortal  man,  you  are  altogether 
in  his  hands!  If  he  but  frown  you  die.  In  that  con- 
dition I  leave  you, — with  these  words  ringing  in 
your  ears,  "O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself,  but 
in  ME  is  thy  help.''^  O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thy- 
self j  but  in  xME,   in  me  alone  is  thy  help.     Amen. 


LECTURE    XI. 

PERSEVERANCE  OF  SAINTS. 

ROMANS  viii.  30. 

After  what  has  been  proved  in  former  lectures 

in  regard  to  election,  the  question  respecting  the 

perseverance  of  the  saints  is  reduced  to  tbJTe 

any  regenei-ated  besides  the  electa      For  if  none  but 

the  elect  are  regenerated,  none  of  the  regenerate 

can   finally  apostatize.     I   presume  no  good  reason 

can  be  given  why  any  should  be  "creared  in  Christ 

Jesus  unto  good  works,"  who  are  not  to  be  "kept 

by    he  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation^' 

-why  any  should  be  raised  from  the  dead  only  to 

return   to   their  graves.      But  our  text   puts  C 

question   to   rest.       Here   we   are    plainly    taugh? 

that   all   who    are   elected   are   effectually   callld- 

ha     a      who  are  effectually   called    are  justified; 

a    all  who  are  justified  are  glorified;   therefore 

tiidt  the  elect  alone  are  regenerated,  and   that  all 

Hho  are  regenerated  are  finally  saved.     The  apos- 

hat'«r.h"'''  '^^  ,'"^J''=',  ^y  ^^>'"g'  "We  know 
that  all  things  work  together  for  good,  [for  salva- 


LfiCT.    XI.]  PERSEVERANCE    OF    SAINTS.  217 

tion,  not  for  destruction,]  to  them  that  love  God, 
io  them  who   are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose. 
For  whom  he  did  foreknow,  [as  his  own,  not  as  bemg 
Lly  for  the  predestination  which  followed  appointed 
them  to  this  character,]  he  also  did  predestmate  to  be 
wnformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  he  might  be 
the    first-born  among  many   brethren.       Moreover 
whom  he   did   predestinate,   them  he  also  called; 
mid  whom  he   called,  them  he   also  justified;  and 
iwhom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified.        ihe 
iapostle  then  breaks   forth  into  this  triumphant  lan- 
suao-e,  "Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  ot 
Chrfst?  shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecution, 
or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword?— Way, 
in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors 
throus-h  him  that  loved  us.      For  I  am  persuaded  that 
neither  death  nor  life  nor  angels  nor  principalities 
nor  powers  nor  things  present  nor  thmgs  to  come 
nor  height  nor  depth  nor  any  other  creature  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."      Here  you  see  joined 
in  one  chain  four  indissoluble  links,  viz.  election, 
effectual    calling,    justification,    ^"^    glorification. 
The  elect  only  are  effectually  called,  and  all  that 
are  effectually  called  are  glorified. 

With  this  passage  before  us  it  becomes  manitest 
that  the  doctrine  of  perseverance  stands  mseparably 
connected  with  that  of  election.  If  one  has  beeri 
established  the  other  follows  of  course.  And 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world  I  know  not  that 
any  one  in  his  senses  ever  doubted  of  the  persever- 
ance  of  the  saints,  who  believed  in  absolute  per- 
sonal election.  •       i     . 

In  another  point  of  view  the  foregoing  lectures 
have  prepared  the  way  for  a  ready  belief  ot  this 
article.  They  have  made  it  apparent  that  m  every 
step  towards  salvation  God  moves  first  and  the  crea- 
ture afterwards,^\h?ii  men  advance  just  as  far  as 
^19 


218  PERSEVERANCE*  [LECT.  XI,  , 

they  are  propelled  by  divine  power  and  no  further. 
The  most  negligent  go  thus  far  because  God  is  i 
stronger  than  they;  the  most  vigilant  go  no  further,, 
because  in  them,  that  is  in  their  flesh,  dvvelleth  no 
good  thing.  The  difterence  between  the  slothful 
and  the  diligent  is  made  entirely  by  divine  influ- 
ence. If  then  any  of  the  regenerate  apostatize, 
it  is  because  God  changes  his  conduct  towards 
them  and  withdraws  his  influence.  Now  they  who 
have  maintained  the  hypothesis  of  falling  from  | 
grace,  have  always  told  you  that  the  Christian  breaks 
away  from  God,  not  God  from  him, — that  till  we  first 
forsake  God  he  tuill  never  forsake  us;  thus  placing 
in  the  creature  the  reason  that  the  divine  influence 
does  not  continue  to  be  eflfectual.  But  the  truth 
is,  that  influence  does  continue  to  be  effectual  as  long 
as  it  is  exerted,  (as  has  been  proved  in  former  lec- 
tures;) and  if  the  Christian  apostatizes,  it  is  because 
that  influence  first  forsakes  him.  The  old  nature 
is  so  averse  to  the  heavenly  course  that  the  best 
man  will  not  advance  a  step  further  than  he  is  pro- 
pelled; and  so  far  the  worst  will  certainly  go;  for 
God's  propelling  hand,  if  it  does  any  thing,  over- 
comes the  resistance  and  makes  his  people  willing  : 
in  the  day  of  his  power.  As  far  as  his  sanctify- 
ing influence  is  exerted,  it  always  produces  this 
effect.  None  are  willing  further  than  God  makes 
willing;  all  are  willing  thus  far.  If  any  cease  to  I 
be  willing  and  apostatize,  it  is  because  God  ceases  ' 
to  make  them  willing.  The  change  must  com- 
mence on  his  part.  No  one,  I  believe,  with  this 
view  of  divine  and  human  agency,  ever  doubted  of 
the  perseverance  of  the  saints. 

The  question  then  really  comes  to  this;  does  j 
God,  after  changing  the  hearts  of  sinners,  relin-  \ 
quish  the  work  which  he  has  begun?  and  that  too  ? 
as  the  first  mover  in  this  process  of  undoing,  and  | 
without  any  special  cause  given  him  by  the  creature.^  j 

i 


LECT.    XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  219 

I  say,  without  any  special  cause  given  him  by  the 
creature,  for  such  a  special  cause  presupposes  the 
partial  withdrawment  of  his  influence.  The  best 
man  sins  just  as  far  as  God  leaves  him,  and  oppor- 
tunity and  motives  occur;  as  far  as  God's  sanctifying 
influence  is  exerted,  the  worst  man  is  preserved  from 
sin.  Any  special  sinfulness  in  a  Christian  therefore 
presupposes  the  partial  withdrawment  of  that  influ- 
ence. Does  God  then,  as  the  first  mover  in  this  retro- 
grade course,  and  unprovoked  by  any  special  oflence, 
withdraw  from  a  work  which  he  has  begun?  This 
is  the  fiir  and  precise  statement  of  the  question. 
Not  whether  he  will  keep  us  if  ive  remain  faithful, 
but  whether  he  will  continue  to  make  us  faithful.  Not 
whether  he  will  desert  us  ip  ive  provoke  him,  but 
whether  he  will  suffer  us  to  provoke  him  thus  far. 
Not  what  his  agency  will  be  as  consequent  to  ours, 
but  what  our  agency  will  be  as  consequent  to  his. 
He  began  the  work  when  there  was  nothing  in  the 
creature  to  induce  him,  but  every  thing  to  dissuade: 
will  he  discontinue  the  work  when  there  is  less  to 
dissuade  than  at  first?  In  a  word,  will  he  begin  a 
work,  uninduced  by  the  creature;  and  uninduced 
by  the  creature,  and  even  less  provoked,  will  he  de- 
sert it? 

This  question  however  cannot  be  decided  by 
reason;  it  must  be  settled  by  revelation  alone. 
Nor  can  it  be  determined  by  the  general  benevolence 
of  God  even  as  set  forth  in  that  revelation;  for  in 
that  exhibition  he  sustains  the  character  of  One 
who  has  in  fact  withdrawn  his  influence  and  left 
perfectly  holy  beings  to  fall.  No  instance  indeed 
is  known,  (if  the  case  under  consideration  is  not 
one,)  of  his  having  begun  to  sanctify  sinners  and 
withdrawn  from  the  work.  But  after  all  the  ques- 
tion wholly  turns  on  what  he  Ims promised, — on  the 
positive  stipulations  in  his  covenant  with  his  Son  and 
with  his  people.     If  he  did  in  fact  promise  his  Son 


220  PERSEVERANCE  [lECT.    XI* 

an  elect  seed,  and  inscribed  their  names  in  the 
book  of  life  before  the  foundation  of  the  world;  if 
he  promised  him  that  they  "should  never  perish,"  that 
none  should  "pluck  them  out  of  [his]  hand,"  "that  of 
all  which  he"  had  "given"  him  he  "should  lose  noth- 
ing, but  should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day;"* 
if  none  but  the  elect  are  regenerated,  as  our  text 
expressly  declares;  and  if  the  covenant  made  with 
Christians  engages  infallibly  to  keep  them  from 
apostacy;  then  the  perseverance  of  the  saints  is 
secured  beyond  a  possibility  of  failure. 

That  such  a  covenant  was  made  with  Christ  in 
behalf  of  his  elect,  was  proved  in  a  former  lecture, f 
and  is  confirmed  by  the  texts  just  now  quoted. 
That  compact  you  may  see  more  largely  displayed 
in  the  eighty-ninth  Psalm;  under  the  typical  form 
of  a  covenant  with  David.  "I  have  made  a  cov- 
enant with  my  Chosen: — thy  seed  will  I  establish 
forever. — Then  thou  spokest  in  vision  to  thy  Holy 
One,  and  saidst,  I  have  laid  help  upon  One  that  is 
mighty;  I  have  exalted  One  chosen  out  of  the  peo- 
ple. His  seed  also  will  I  make  to  endure  forever: — 
if  his  children  forsake  my  law  and  ivalk  not  in  my  judg- 
ments; if  they  break  my  statutes  and  keep  not  my  com- 
mandments;  then  ivill  I  visit  their  transgression  ivith  the 
rod  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes;  nevertheless  my  lov- 
ing kindness  xvill  1  not  utterly  take  from  him  nor  suffer 
my  faithfulness  to  fail.*''  Such^,was  the  everlasting 
covenant:  and  one  of  the  contriicting  parlies,  when 
he  was  on  earth,  (thatbeloved  Son  who  never  asked 
in  vain,)  did,  in  the  most  solemn  and  formal  man- 
ner, in  his  official  character,  lod^e  in  heaven  a 
prayer  for  the  safe  keeping  of  all  this  elect  seed  to 
the  end  of  the  world:  "Glorify  thy  Son,  that  thy 
Son  also  may  glorify  thee.     As  thou  hast  given  him 

*  John  vi.  39.  and  x.  3—5.  11,  14.— 16.  26—29. 
t  Pages  177,  178. 


LECT.  XT.]  OF    SAINTS.  221 

power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal  life 
to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him. — 1  pray  for  them; 
I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them  which  thou 
hast  given  me. — Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine 
cum  name  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  that  they 
may  he  one  as  ive  are. — I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldst 
take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldst 
keep  them  from  the  evil. — Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth. — Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  hut  for  them 
also  which  shall  helieve  on  me  through  their  word;  that 
they  ALL  may  he  one,  as  thou  Father  art  in  me  and  1  in 
thee,  that  they  also  may  he  one  in  us. — And  the  glory 
which  thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them,  that  they 
may  be  one  even  as  we  are  one;  I  in  them  and  thou 
in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one,  and 
that  the  world  may  know  that  thou — hast  lovf.d  them 
as  thou  hast  loved  me. — Father,  /  ivill  that  they  also 
whom  thou  hast  given  me  he  with  me  ivhere  I  am,  that 
they  may  behold  my  glory  which  thou  hast  given 
me."  In  accordance  with  this  prayer  he  told  his 
disciples,  "Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have 
chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  that  you  should  go 
and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  should 
remain. ^^ 

Had  not  a  seed  been  secured  to  Christ  by  such  an 
absolute  covenant,  he  might  have  entirely  lost  the 
reward  of  his  death.     He  had  no  security  for  a  sin- 
gle soul  unless    the   covenant    secured  the  whole. 
Remove  now  the  immutable  purpose  and  promise  of 
God,  and  what  hinders  the  whole  body  of  believers 
on  earth    from  apostatizing  at   once?    The  Church 
imay  become  extinct  in  a  single  day.     But  if  things 
jare  left  thus  uncertain,  what  mean  b.\\  the  proinises 
land   oaths  of  God    respecting    the   future   glory  of 
IZion? 

In  virtue  of  this  everlasting  covenant  with  the 
Redeemer,  as  soon  as  a  soul  is  united  to  him  by 
faith,  it   receives  a  sentence  of  justification  which 


222  PERSEVERANCE  [lECT.    XI. 

forever  frees  it  from  the  condemning  sentence  of  the 
law:  "Ye — are  become  dead  to  the  law  by  the  body 
of  Christ,  that  ye  should  be  married  to  another,  even 
to  Him  that  is  raised  from  the  dead,  that  we  should 
bring  forth  fruit  unto  God. — Now  we  are  delivered 
from  thelaw,  {that  being  dead  wherein  we  were  held,) 
that  we  should  serve  in  newness  of  spirit  and  not  in 
the  oldness  of  the  letter. —  There  is  therefore  noiv  no 
condemnation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit.  For 
the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath 
made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. — Who 
shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect"?  It 
is  God  that  justifieth.  Who  is  he  that  condemneth.^ 
It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea  rather  that  is  risen  again, 
who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  mak- 
eth  intercession  for  us.  Who  shall  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christf"'  "The  law  having  a  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come,  and  not  the  very  image  of  the 
things,  can  never,  with  those  sacrifices  which  they 
offered  year  by  year  continually,  make  the  comers 
thereunto  perfect.  For  then  would  they  not  have 
ceased  to  be  offered?  because  that  the  worshippers, 
once  purged,  should  have  had  710  more  conscience  of 
sins. — Then  said  he,  Lo  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O 
God.— By  the  which  will  lue  are  sanctified  through  the 
offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all.— For 
by  one  offering  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are 
sanctified.  Whereof  the  Holy  Ghost  also  is  a  wit- 
ness to  us:  for  after  that  he  had  said  before.  This 
is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  them:  After 
those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  put  my  laws  into 
their  hearts,  and  in  their  minds  will  I  write  them, 
and  their  sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more. 
Now  where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is  no  more 
offering  for  sin."  Though  the  drift  of  this  passage 
is  to  prove  that  the  death  of  Christ,  once  endured, 
was  sufficient  to  take  away  sin  without  being  repeat- 


LECT.  XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  223 

ed,  yet  the  argument  is  so  constructed  as  strongly 
to  imply,  what  is  explicitly  asserted  in  the  text,  tiiat 
all  who  by  a  union  to  Christ  are  once  "justified," 
are  forever  delivered  from  condemnation.  Further, 
by  this  union  men  grow  to  Christ  as  '•'■mernhers  of  his 
hodi/,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  hones:''''  and  will  he  suffer 
his  members  to  be  torn  from  his  bleeding  side?  At 
the  time  this  union  is  formed,  they  are  "/>or?i  of 
God,"  become  "5o?i5"  and  ^'•heirs  of  God,  and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ  "  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible, — and 
that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  [^them,^ 
ivho  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto 
salvation.-''  Henceforth  their  title  is,  "no  more  a 
servant  but  a  50?z." 

When  in  pursuance  of  the  stipulations  with  his 
Son,  God  came  in  time  to  enter  into  covenant  with 
his  people,  he  bound  himself  to  them  individually 
as  their  everlasting  God  and  portion,  and  engaged 
to  take  upon  himself  the  whole  charge  of  their  sal- 
vation. These  promises  were  not  conditional  but 
absolute.  "For  when  God  made  promise  to  Abra- 
ham, because  he  could  swear  by  no  greater  he  swore 
by  himself,  saying,  Surely  blessing  I  will  bless  thee, 
and  multiplying  I  will  multiply  thee. — For  men  ver- 
ily swear  by  the  greater,  and  an  oath  for  confirma- 
tion is  to  them  an  end  of  all  strife.  Wherein  God, 
willing  more  abundantly  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of 
promise  the  immutability  of  his  counsel,  confirm- 
ed it  by  an  oath;  that  by  two  immutable  things,  in 
which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might 
have  strong  consolation  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to 
lay  hold  upon  the  hope  set  before  us;  which  hope 
we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and 
steadfast,  and  which  entereth  into  that  within  the 
vail."  The  covenant  which  was  afterwards  made  at 
Sinai,  (called  "the  law,"  in  distinction  from  the 
Abraham ic  which  is  called  "the  promise,")  was  con- 
ditional, and  of  course  was  broken.     It  was  condi- 


224  PERSEVERANCE.  [lECT.  XI. 

tional  or  it  could  not  have  been  hroken.  This  is  the 
covenant  alluded  to  in  the  following  remarkable 
passage:  "Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  I  will  make  a  ?ieiv  covenant  with  the  house. of 
Israel, — not  according  to  the  [conditional]  covenant 
that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  took 
them  by  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
which  my  covenant  they  broke; — but  this  shall  be 
the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Is- 
rael, [an  ABSOLUTE  one:]  After  those  days,  saith  the 
Lord,  /  WILL  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and 
write  it  in  their  hearts,  and  will  be  their  God,  and 
they  SHALL  be  my  people; — for  I  will  forgive  their  ini- 
quity, and  J  will  remember  their  sin  no  more. — They 
SHALL  be  my  people,  and  /will  be  their  God.  And  1 
WILL  give  them  one  heart  and  one  ivay  that  they  may 
fear  me  forever.  And  I  ivill  make  an  everlasting 
COVENANT  ivith  them  that  I  will  not  turn  away  from 
them  to  do  them,  good;  but  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their 
hearts  that  they  shall  not  depart  from  me." 
This  passage  is  twice  quoted  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  as  comprising  the  tenour  of  the  covenant 
established  with  the  Christian  Church,  which  is 
therefore  called  by  the  apostle  "a  better  covenant 
[than  that  of  Sinai,] — established  upon  better  prom- 
t.se5."^  And  from  this  he  infers  that  "by  one  offer- 
ing" Christ  has  ^'•perfected  forever  them  that  are 
sanctified,"  and  that  "the  worshippers,  once  purg- 
ed," have  "no  more  conscience  of  sins." 

The  same  covenant  is  detailed  in  the  numerous 
promises  to  the  Church  which  are  scattered  through 
the  Bible.  "The  Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  a  shield; 
the  Lord  will  give  grace  and  glory."  "The  anoint- 
ing which  ye  have  received  of  him  abideth  in  you; — 
and  even  as  it  hath  taught  you,  ye  shall  abide  in  him.^^ 
Among  these  promises  may  be  reckoned  those  which 

*   Chap.  viii.  and  x. 


LECT.    XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  225 

inseparably  connect  salvation  with  the  first  exercise 
of  grace.  "When  thou  hast  found"  wisdom,  [once,] 
"then  tliere  shall  he  a  reward,  and  thy  expectation 
shall  not  be  cut  off^  "For  whoso  [once]  findeth  me 
findeth  life,  and  shall  obtain  fiivour  of  the  Lord." 
"Whosoever  [once]  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him,  shall  never  thirst;  but  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  spring- 
ing up  into  everlasting  lifey  "He  that  cometh  to  me, 
[once]  shall  never  hunger;  and  he  that  believeth  on 
me,  [once,]  shall  never  thirst."  "He  that  believ- 
eth [once]  on  the  Son,  hath  everlasting  life.^^  "He 
that  [once]  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath 
everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnationy 

but  IS    passed     FllOM     DEATH    UNTO     LIFE."       "This    is 

the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one  which 
seeth  the  Son  and  [once]  believeth  on  h\m,  may  have 
everlasting  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day^ 
"Whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these 
little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name  of 
a  disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you  he  shall  in  no  wise 
lose  his  reward."  Among  these  promises  may  be 
reckoned  those  which  absolutely  secure  to  every  be- 
liever groivth  in  grace.  "The  righteous — shall  hold 
on  his  ivay,  and  he  that  hath  clean  hands  shall  be 
stronger  and  stronger.''^  "The  path  of  the  just  is  as 
the  shinins:  lisht  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day.^^  "They  go  from  strength  to  strength: — 
blessed  is  the  man  whose  strength  is  in  thee.^''  "Every 
branch  that  beareth  fruit,  he  purgeth  it  that  it  may 
bring  forth  more  fruit.^^  Grace  in  the  heart,  as  well 
as  in  the  world  at  large,  is  compared  to  a  little 
leaven  gradually  leavening  the  whole  lump; — to  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed  which  grows  up  into  the 
largest  of  herbs; — to  seed  which  a  man  cast  into  the 
ground,  which  sprung  up  and  grew  night  and  day, 
he  knew  not  how,  bringing  forth,  "first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 
20 


226  PERSEVERANCE  [lECT.    XI. 

*'The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  a  palm-tree,  he 
shall  grow  like  a  cedar  in  Lebanori."  *'He  shall  be 
like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bring-'' 
eth  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season;  his  leaf  also  shall  not 
wither.^^  "He  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the 
vraters,  and  that  spreadeih  out  her  roots  by  the  river, 
and  shall  not  see  when  heat  cometh,  but  her  leaf 
shall  be  green,  and  shall  not  be  careful  in  the  year 
of  drought,  neither  shall  cease  from  yielding  fruit.''^ 
Among  these  promises  may  be  reckoned  those  which 
in  particular  cases  assu^red  good  men  of  their  final 
salvation  long  before  their  death.  To  Simon  Peter 
it  was  said,  "Whither  I  go  thou  canst  not  follow  me 
now,  but  thou  shalt  folloiv  me  afterwards. ^^  To  the 
eleven,  "I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you;  and  if  I  go 
and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and 
receive  you  unto  myself  that  where  I  am  there  ye  may 
be  also"  To  the  church  in  Sardis,  "Thou  hast  a 
few  names  even  in  Sardis  which  have  not  defiled 
their  garments;  and  they  shall  ivalk  with  me  in  white 
for  they  are  worthy" 

Such  being  the  promises  of  the  "everlasting  cove- 
nant" both  to  Christ  and  the  Church,  it  becomes  a 
mark  of  God's  covenant  faithfulness  to  carry  on  the 
sanctification  of  his  people  to  the  end.  "Who  shall 
— confirm  you  unto  the  end,  that  you  may  be  blameless 
in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  God  is  faithful 
by  whom  ye  were  called  unto  the  fellowship  of  his  Son. — 
There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you  but  such  as  is 
common  to  man;  but  God  is  faithful  who  will  not 
suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able,  but  will 
with  the  temptation  also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that 
ye  may  be  able  to  bear  it."  "The  Lord  is  faithful 
who  shall  establish  you  and  keep  you  from  evil.  And 
we  HAVE  confidence  in  the  Lord  touching  you,  that 
ye  both  do  and  will  do  the  things  which  we  com- 
mand you."  "The  very  God  of  peace  sanctify  you 
wholly;  and  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit  and  soul 


I 

LECT.    XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  227 

and  body  be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Faithful  is  he  that 

CALLETH  YOU,  WHO  ALSO  WILL  DO  IT." 

To  impress  us  with  a  deeper  sense  of  the  stability 
of  this  covenant  faithfulness,  it  is  expressly  founded 
on  the  unchangeableness  of  the  divine  nature:  "I  am 
the  Lord,  /  change  not,  therefore  ye  sons  of  Jacob  are 
not  consu?ned."  On  this  basis  rest  of  course  the 
immutable  love  and  purpose  so  often  revealed  in 
passages  like  these:  "Having  loved  his  own  which 
were  in  the  world,  he  loved  them  unto  the  end.^^ 
"As  touching  the  election  they  are  beloved  for  the 
fathers'  sakes;  Jor  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are 
without  repentance.''^ 

In  this  unchanging  faithfidness  of  God  the  most 

enlightened   saints   have  always  confided,  for  the 

completion  both  of  their  own  salvation  and  that  of 

others.     For  the  completion  of  their  own  salvation: 

"Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel,^''  said  Asaph, 

^^and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory. — My  flesh  and  my 

heart   faileth,  but   God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart 

and   my  portion  for  ever,''''     "I  know  whom  1   have 

believed,"  said  Paul,  "and  I  am  persuaded  that  He 

\  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him 

against  that  day. — The  Lord  shall  deliver  me  from 

every  evil  work,  and  ivill  preserve  me  unto  his  heavenly- 

\  kingdom. — Henceforth  there   is   laid  up   for   me  a 

I  crown  of  righteousness  which  the  Lord,  the  riiiht- 

li  ^  ,  '  o 

!!  eous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day." — For  the 
completion  of  the  salvation  of  others:  "I  thank  my 
God  upon  every  remembrance  of  you,"  said  Paul  to 
the  Philippians;    "being    confident   of  this  very 

THING,    that    he    WHICH   HATH  BEGUN    A    GOOD    WORK 
IN    YOU    WILL    PERFOR^f    IT    UNTIL    THE    DAY    OF    JESUS 

CHRIST."     David  had  the  same  confidence  in  God 

respecting  the  salvation  of  all  the  saints:  "The  steps 

of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord: — though  he 

fall  he  shall  not  be  utterly  cast   down,  for  the  Lord  - 

1 
I 


223  PERSEVERANCE  [lECT.    XI. 

upholdeth  him  ivith  his  hand^  ^^The  Lord — forsaketh 
not  his  saints;  they  ?iYe  preserved  forever. ^^ 

There  are  many  passages,  too  numerous  to  be 
quoted,  which  assert  the  doctrine  without  so  dis- 
tinctly bringing  into  view  the  divine  agency.  For 
a  specimen  take  the  following:  "A  just  man  falleth 
seven  times,  [^ever  so  often,^  and  riseth  up  again." 
"The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  clean,  enduring  forever  " 
"Blessed  is  the  man  that  feareth  the  Lord; — his 
righteousness  endureth  forever. — Surely  he  shall  not 
be  moved  forever. — His  heart  is  fixed,  trusting  in 
the  Lord. — His  righteousness  endureth  forever;  his 
horn  shall  be  exalted  with  honour."  "Mary  hath 
chosen  that  good  part  which  shall  not  be  taken 
away  from  her." 

H'  the  saints  may  finally  apostatize,  what  can  be 
meant  by  ^Hhe  full  assurance  of  hope"  which  all  are 
exhorted  to  acquire.^  and  by  the  ^^sure  and  steadfast''^ 
hope  which  rests  on  the  covenant  of  God.^  Is  it 
merely  a  hope  that  they  may  happen  to  be  in  a 
gracious  state  when  they  die.^^  But  this  is  the  com- 
mon hope  of  the  wicked,  who  nevertheless  are  said 
to  possess  "no  hope."  What  less  can  it  mean  than 
that  triumphant  confidence,  involving  the  certainty 
of  persevering,  which  Job  expressed  when  he  said, 
"I  know  that  iny  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall 
stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth:  and  though 
after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my 
flesh  shall  I  see  God;  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself, 
and  my  eyes  shall  behold  and  not  another,  though 
my  reins  be  consumed  within  me."^ 

*  Job.  xvii.  9.  and  xix.  25—27.  Ps.  i.  3.  and  xix.  9.  and  xxxvii.  23,  24, 
28.  and  Ixxiii.  24,  26.  and  Ixxxiv.  5,  7,  11.  and  Ixxxix.  3,  4,  19,  29—33.  and 
xcii.  12,  and  cxii.  1,  3,  6,  7,  9.  Prov.  iv,  18,  and  viii.  35.  and  xxiv.  14. 
Jer.  xvii.  8.  and  xxxi.  31—34.  and  xxxii.  38—40.  Mai.  iii.  6.  Mat.  x.  42. 
and  xiii.  31—33.  Mark  iv.  26—29.  Luke  x.  42.  Jolin  iii.  36.  and  iv.  14. 
and  v.  24.  and  vi.  35,  40.  and  xiii.  1,  36.  and  xiv.  2,  3.  and  xv.  2, 16.  and 
xvii.  1,  2,  9,  11,  15, 17,20—24.  Rom.  vii.  4,  6.  and  viii.  1,  2,  14,  15,  17, 
33— 35.  and  xi.  28,  29.  1  Cor.  i.  8,  9.  and  x.  13.  Gal.  iii.  16,  17.  and  iv.  7. 
Eph.  ii.  12.  Phil.  i.  3,  6.  1  Thes.  v.  23,  24.  2  Thes.  iii.  3,  4.  2  Tim.  i. 
12.  and  iv.  8,  18.  Heb.  vi.  11,  13—20.  and  viii.  6—13.  and  x.  1.  2,  9,  10, 
14—18.     1  Pet.  i.  4, 5.     1  John.  ii.  27.  and  iii.  9.    Rev.  iii.  4. 


LECT.    XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  229 

It  cannot  however  be  denied  that  there  are  many 
passages  of  Scripture  which  warn  Christians  against 
apostacy,  which  urge  the  necessity  of  enduring  to 
the  end,  and  some  which,  taken  by  themselves, 
seem  even  to  speak  as  though  a  truly  righteous  man 
might  finally  fall.  These  passages  may  all  be  re- 
duced to  two  classes: 

(1.)  Those  which  press  upon  real  Christians  the 
necessity  of  enduring  to  the  end.  These,  so  far 
from  proving  that  they  may  fall  away,  are  the  very 
means  by  which  their  perseverance  is  secured. 
This  may  be  illustrated  by  an  occurrence  in  Paul's 
voyage  to  Rome.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  had 
assured  him  that  not  one  of  the  company  should 
perish;  and  yet  when  the  sailors  were  deserting  the 
wreck,  Paul  said  to  the  centurion,  ^'Except  these 
abide  in  the  ship  ye  cannot  be  saved."*  It  was 
certain  that  all  the  company  would  be  preserved; 
and  it  was  certain  that  the  sailors  would  continue  in 
the  ship;  and  this  threat  was  the  very  means  by 
which  the  whole  was  secured.  Now  if  you  can  find 
texts  which  peremptorily  threaten  real  Christians 
with  destruction  in  case  of  apostacy,  they  furnish  an 
instance  exactly  parallel,  and  no  more  prove  that 
real  Christians  loill  apostatize,  than  Paul's  threat 
proved  that  the  words  of  the  angel  would  fail. 

(2.)  The  other  class  speak  of  apostacy,  not  from 
real  godliness,  but  from  a  profession,  from  external 
righteousness,  or  from  a  mere  conviction  of  truth. 
Several  of  the  strongest  passages  are  expressly 
limited  to  some  such  meaning  by  their  own  context. 
Take  for  instance  that  memorable  one  in  the  sixth 
of  Hebrews:  "It  is  impossible  for  those  who  were 
once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of  the  heavenly 
gifts,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  have  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the 

*  Acts  xxvii.  21—24,  30—32. 
20* 


230  PERSEVERANCE  [lECT.    XI. 

powers  of  the  world  to  come,  if  they  shall  fall  away, 
to  renew  them  again  unto  repentance."  This  is 
probably  the  strongest  passage  to  be  found  in  the 
Bible.  Now  does  this  speak  of  real  Christians.'^ 
Certainly  not;  for  to  guard  against  such  a  construc- 
tion it  is  immediately  added,  "But,  beloved,  we  are 
persuaded  better  things  of  you^  and  things  that 
accompany  salvation^  though  we  thus  speak;  [we  are 
persuaded  that  you  are  real  Christians,  and  of  course 
will  not  be  suffered  to  apostatize;]  for  God  is  not 
UNRIGHTEOUS  to  forgct  your  work  and  labour  of 
love:"  he  is  not  so  unfaithful  to  his  promise  as  to 
suffer  those  who  have  given  undoubted  proofs  of 
sincerity  to  perish.  Take  another  instance  from 
the  10th  chapter  of  the  same  Epistle:  "If  we  sin 
wilfully  after  that  we  have  received  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for 
sins,  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment 
and  fiery  indignation  which  shall  devour  the  ad- 
versaries. He  that  despised  Moses'  law  died  with- 
out mercy  under  two  or  three  witnesses:  of  how 
much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be 
thought  worthy  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the 
Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  wherewith  he,  [Christ,]  was  sanctified  an 
unholy  thing,  and  have  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit 
of  grace. — The  just  shall  live  by  faith;  but  if  any  | 
man  draw  back  my  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure  in 
him."  Now  does  all  this  prove  that  real  Christians 
may  apostatize.^  Certainly  not;  for  it  is  immediately 
added.      "But  we  are    not  of   them    who    draw 

BACK    unto    perdition,    BUT    OF    THEM   THAT    BELIEVE 
TO    THE    SAVING    OF    THE     SOUL." 

But  every  question  respecting  the  previous  sanc- 
tification  of  apostates,  is  settled  once  for  all  by 
a  single  verse  in  the  First  Epistle  of  John.  There 
were  in  those  days  heretics  and  profligates  who  had 
withdrawn   from   the   communion  of   the  Church. 


LECT.  XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  231 

The  question  is,  had  any  of  them  been  real  Chris- 
tians? John  tells  you,  in  language  applicable  to 
apostates  in  every  age,  and  that  sweeps  off  all  these 
objections  at  a  stroke:  "They  went  out  from  us,  hut 
they  were  not  of  us;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they 
would  NO  DOUBT  have  continued  ivith  us;  but  they 
went  out  from  us  that  they  might  be  made  mani- 
fest   THAT    THEY    WERE  NOT   ALL   OF  US.""^       In  Other 

words,  had  they  been  real  Christians  they  certainly 
would  not  have  apostatized.  This  settles  the  previous 
character  of  all  apostates  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
Whatever  number  of  texts  then  you  may  find  that 
speak  of  apostacy,  it  is  now  ascertained  that  the 
apostates  never  were  sanctified. 

It  has  been  said  that  this  doctrine  tends  to  licentious- 
ness. Though  after  showing  that  it  is  a  doctrine  of 
the  Bible  I  am  under  no  obligation  to  answer 
objections,  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  such  a 
use  can  never  be  made  of  it  by  any  but  hypocrites. 
I  appeal  to  a  million  witnesses  that  a  holy  heart 
feels  no  temptation  thus  to  abuse  this  heavenly  truth. 
I  appeal  to  the  history  of  the  Church  if  the  holiest 
of  men  have  not  believed  it  without  becoming 
licentious, — if  the  principal  part  of  the  piety  of  past 
ages,  especially  since  the  Reformation,  has  not  been 
connected  with  this  belief.  I  appeal  to  that  venera- 
ble saint  whose  aged  eye  daily  looks  towards  heaven 
with  "the  full  assurance  of  hope,"  and  with  full 
confidence  in  this  blessed  truth,  whether  his  assur- 
ance checks  his  hungerings  after  righteousness, — 
whether  the  "perfect  love"  which  "casteth  out  fear" 
is  ready  to  return  to  sin, — whether  "the  spirit  of 
adoption"  which  confidently  cries,  "Abba  Father," 
is  less  purifying  than  the  dread  of  the  slave.  I 
appeal  to  Paul  on  his  throne,  whether  the  full 
assurance  of  eternal  glory  prompts  a  wish  to  return 
to  pollution,  or  abates  the  ardour  of  his  love. 

*  1  John.  ii.  19. 


232  PEESEVERANCE  [lECT.    XI. 

Such  an  abuse  of  the  doctrine  is  indeed  charge- 
able upon  hypocrites:  and  to  guard  them,  (and  all 
that  is  wicked  in  Christians,)  against  this  abuse,  those 
very  warnings  against  apostacy  were  issued  which 
you  have  brought  forward  to  disprove  the  doctrine. 
Mark  your  inconsistency  here.  You  say  the  doc- 
trine tends  to  licentiousness;  and  as  soon  as  the 
Bible  issues  warnins^s  to  ffuard  it  against  this  abuse 
and  to  silence  this  complaint,  you  fling  those  very 
warnings  against  the  doctrine.  What  was  done  by 
the  divine  Spirit  to  protect  it  against  your  own 
objection,  you  convert  into  a  new  weapon  of  attack. 

This  subject,  my  Christian  brethren,  opens  to 
view  the  astonishing  grace  of  God,  and  traces  back 
your  salvation  to  its  proper  source,  the  counsels 
of  the  adorable  Trinity.  It  shows  you  where  your 
strength  lies,  and  whence  your  hope  springs.  The 
Father,  who  eternally  gave  you  to  his  Son,  promised 
him  to  take  the  tenderest  care  of  you  for  his  sake, 
and  to  see  himself  to  every  part  of  your  salvation. 
He  promised  him  to  sufter  no  real  evil  to  befal  you, 
to  supply  you  with  every  needed  good,  and  to  make 
you  the  happier  for  every  event.  He  promised 
him  to  defend  you  against  every  enemy,  to  sufier 
neither  Satan  nor  your  own  heart  to  prevail  against 
you,  and  to  bear  you  in  his  arms  to  the  heavenly 
rest.  Your  strength,  your  hope,  your  salvation, 
depend  on  counsels  settled  in  heaven  infinite  years 
before  you  were  born.  As  sure  as  God  is  faithful,  ,g 
everlasting  ages  of  glory  are  before  you.  When 
you  have  shed  a  few  more  tears  in  a  strange  land, 
your  feet  shall  stand  on  Mount  Zion,  and  you  shall 
sing  to  your  golden  harps  the  endless  song  of  grace. 
Already  you  touch  the  sacred  threshold.  Why  go 
ye  mourning  all  the  day?  Is  it  for  an  heir  of  glory 
lo  be  sad?  Lift  up  your  heads  and  rejoice  in  God 
your  Saviour,  and  in  the  everlasting  covenant. 
Throw  away   these  comfortless   hopes  which   you 


I  LECT.    XI.]  OF    SAINTS.  233 

draw  from  yourselves,  and  behold  In  the  infinite 
resources  of  the  ever-blessed  Trinity  the  origin  and 
completion  of  your  salvation.  When  you  get  home 
to  glory,  how  will  then  appear  a  Father's  care!  how 
the  everlasting  covenant  that  drew  you  from  the 
pit!  Then  will  you  begin  the  song  of  grace.  While 
you  cast  your  crowns  at  his  feet,  as  everlasting  ages 
roll,  you  will  swell  the  song  of  grace.  Let  us  even 
begin  it  here,  and  say,  "Unto  him  that  loved  us  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath 
made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father, 
to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  and  ever. 
Amen." 


LECTURE     XII. 


THE  SYSTEM   CONFIRMED  AND  APPLIED. 

GALATIANS  i,  8,  9. 

BUT  THOUGH  W^  OR  AN  ANGEL  FROM  HEAVEN  PREACH  ANY  OTH- 
ER GOSPEL  UNTO  YOU  THAN  THAT  WHICH  WE  HAVE  PREACHED 
UNTO  YOU,  LET  HIM  BE  ACCURSED.  AS  WE  SAID  BEFORE,  SO  SAY 
I  NOW  AGAIN;  IF  ANY  MAN  PREACH  ANY  OTHER  GOSPEL  UNTO 
YOU    THAN    THAT   YE    HAVE    RECEIVED,    LET    HIM    BE   ACCURSED. 

The  truths  which  have  been  supported  in  this 
course  of  lectures,  are  far  from  constituting  the 
whole  Gospel.  Besides  the  Trinity,  the  atonement, 
justification  by  faith,  the  retributions  of  eternity,  and 
several  other  cardinal  doctrines  not  taken  up  in  the 
course,  most  of  the  precepts  of  the  Bible,  and  all  the 
invitaiions  and  promises,  belong  to  the  Gospel.  But 
I  have  selected  four  articles  of  faith,  viz.  total  de- 
pravity, regeneration,  election,  and  perseverance, 
not  only  because  they  form  an  indissoluble  chain, 
but  because  if  these  truths  are  believed  and  under- 
stood we  shall  not  be  likely  to  err  in  regard  to  the 
rest.  As  I  passed  along  I  touched  also  upon  the 
means  of  grace  and  the  powers  of  man,  on  account 
of  their  relation  to  the  other  topics;  but  the  great 
hinges  of  the  system,  and  what  I  had  principally  in 
view,  were  these  four.     To  support  these,  I  laid  in 


LECT.    XII.]  THE    SYSTEM    CONFIRiMED.  235 

the  outset  a  foundation  for  the  whole  system  by  estab- 
lishing, on  independent  ground,  the  doctrine  of  total 
depravity.  I  next  showed  you  that  from  this  truth 
followed  the  unavoidable  inference  that  God  must 
change  the  heart,  uninduced  and  unaided  by  man, 
and  must  make  one  to  differ  from  another  according 
to  his  sovereign  pleasure;  all  which  could  not  be 
true  if  men  were  not  totally  depraved.  I  then  pro- 
ceeded to  support  this  view  of  regeneration  by  plain 
and  positive  declarations  of  Scripture.  I  next  show- 
ed you  that  from  this  truth  inevitably  followed  the 
doctrine  of  absolute  personal  election;  which  could 
not  be  true  if  resfeneration  was  not  what  it  had  been 
represented.  I  then  proceeded  to  support  this  view 
of  election  by  a  great  number  of  texts  of  the  most 
explicit  and  decisive  cast.  I  next  opened  the  Bible 
and  showed  you  that  none  but  the  elect  are  regen- 
erated. This  being  settled,  it  was  manifest  that  from 
election  unavoidably  followed  the  perseverance  of 
the  saints;  which  could  not  be  accounted  for  on  any 
other  principle.  I  then  proceeded  to  establish  the 
doctrine  of  perseverance  by  a  large  array  of  scrip- 
tural proofs;  a  part  of  which  supported  the  point 
independently,  and  a  part  showed  its  indissoluble 
connexion  with  the  preceding  article. 

There  still  remain  some  arguments  in  confirma- 
tion of  the  whole  system,  to  be  drawn  from  the  anal' 
og If  of  faith,  and  some  remarks  illustrative  of  the 
practical  importance  of  the  truths  established.  That 
I  may  glean  up  what  remains,  I  will  attempt, 

I.  To  show,  from  some  additional  considera- 
tions, that  tiiese  four  articles,  as  they  have  been 
explained,  really  belong  to  the  true  Gospel. 

II.  To  prove  that  every  system  which  rejects 
these  four  doctrines,  is  ^^another  gospel^ 

III.  To  urge  the  infinite  importance  of  ascer- 
taining, by  deep  and  careful  examination,  what  the 
true  Gospel  is. 


236  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.  XII.  | 

I.     I  am  to  show,  from  some  additional  consider- 
ations, that   these   four   articles,   as  they  have  been  i 
explained,  really  belong  to  the  true  Gospel.     I  say,, 
as  ihcy  have  been  explained,  for  the  reasonings  which  i 
follow  must  be  understood  as  applicable  to  the  doc- 
trines in  no  other  than  the   precise  shape  in  which 
they  have  been  exhibited. 

(J.)    It  is  apparent  to  reason  that  these  four  doc- 
trines must  stand  or  fall  together.  They  support  each, 
other  like  the  different    parts  of  an  arch,  and  yout 
cannot  tear  one  away  without  demolishing  the  whole ;' 
structure.     Or  to  use  a  more  exact  illustration,  they 
are  inseparable  links  of  a  chain,  of  which  if  one  is; 
supported    the  whole  are    supported.     The    entire; 
system  must  stand  or  every  vestige  of  it  must  be  de- 
stroyed.    There  is  as  much  evidence  that  the  whole; 
is  true  as  that  the  whole  is  not  false.     To  you  whoi 
have  attentively  followed  the  train  of  reasonings  ini 
the  foregoing  lectures,  it  must  be  manifest  that  the 
man  who    would  overthrow  one  of  these   articles,,^ 
must  demolish  the  four,   and  leave  not  a  wreck  oft 
the  system  behind.    Till  one  is  prepared  to  perform i 
the  whole  of  this  mighty  task,  he  ought  to  beware; 
how  he  undertakes.  Jj 

(2.)     These  doctrines,  thus  indissoluble,  are  sejJ-^ 
arately  supported  by  four  distinct  and  strong  classes 
of  texts.     This  shows  you  the  whole  chain  supported 
by  a  column  under  each  link,  yielding  to  each  a  four- 
fold support.     The  literal  meaning  of  four  numer- 
ous classes  of  texts  must  be  swept  away  before  one 
of  the  articles  can  fall.     To  bring  either  of  themi 
into  doubt,  a  man  must  march  through  the   Scrip-.- 
tures  and  twist  into  a  forced  construction  the  great 
body  of  the  Sacred  Writings. 

That  there  are  four  classes  of  texts  which  speai 
severally  of  the  moral  deadness  of  man,  the  new 
birth,  election,  and  God's  preserving  care  of  his 
saints,  cannot   be   denied.     The  only  question  is 


I    LECT.    XII.]  CONFIRMED.  237 

what  do  they  mean?  What  are  the  four  doctrines 
which  they  support?  In  their  plain,  obvious  mean- 
ing tliey  unquestionably  support  such  doctrines  as 
have  been  set  before  you.  Is  the  plain  obvious 
meaning  the  true  one?  This  is  the  only  question 
that  remains  to  be  tried;  and  this,  if  I  mistake  not, 
may  be  settled,  if  any  thing  can  be  settled,  beyond 
the  power  of  controversy.     At  any  rate  I  will  try. 

The  general  remark  which  I  have  to  make  is,  that 
if  you  would  get  rid  of  the  plain  interpretation,  you 
must  set  aside  the  obvious  meaning,  not  of  one,  but 
of  four  distinct  classes  of  texts,  relating  to  four  dis- 
tinct subjects, — subjects  connected  by  reason  just 
as  they  are  by  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  texts.  To 
display  this  argument  in  a  fair  and  perspicuous  form, 
I  observe, 

[1.]  That  the  four  doctrines,  in  the  shape  in  which 
they  have  been  exhibited,  appear  to  the  eye  of  rea- 
son, (if  you  will  suffer  the  expression,)  like  four  tim- 
bers dovetailed  into  each  other.  Now  to  support  the 
construction  which  gives  them  this  form,  the  Scrip- 
tures join  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  four  classes 
of  texts,  in  the  same  order,  and  in  each  case  show 
you  plainly  the  mortise  and  the  joint.  The  junction 
of  total  depravity  and  regeneration  is  exhibited  in 
this  text:  "You  hath  he  quickened  who  were  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins."  The  junction  of  regeneration 
and  election,  in  this:  "Whom  he  did  predestinate^ 
them  he  also  called.^''  Or  this:  "As  many  as  were 
ordained  to  eternal  life  helievedy  The  junction  of 
election  and  perseverance,  in  this:  "Whom  he  did 
predestinate,  them  he  also  called;  and  whom  he 
called,  them  he  also — scorified."  But  because  this 
is  the  most  important  joint  of  the  whole,  I  will  make 
it  a  little  more  visible  by  the  following  quotations: 
*'This  is  the  Father's  will, — that  oi  all  which  he  hath 
given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up 
again  at  the  last  day,^^  "I  lay  down  my  life  for  the 
21 


238  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.  XII. 

sheep.  And  other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this 
fold:  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my 
voice. — But  ye  believe  not  because  ye  are  not  of  my 
sheep. — My  sheep  hear  my  voice, — and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither 
shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand.  My  Father 
which  gave  them  me  is  greater  than  all,  and  none  is 
able  to  pluck  them  out  of  Father^s  hand.''''  "Thou 
hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should 
give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him. — 
Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me 
be  with  me  where  1  am,  that  they  may  behold  my  glory 
which  thou  hast  given  me."  "Ye  have  not  chosen 
me,  hni  I  have  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  that  you 
should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit 
should  remain.''''* 

Perseverance,  thus  jointed  in  upon  election,  is  of 
course  indissolubly  connected  with  regeneration; 
and  this  connexion  is  sometimes  displayed  without 
bringing  election  into  view:  "Whosoever  is  born  of 
God  doth  not  commit  sin;  for  his  seed  remaineth  in 
him,  and  he  cannot  sin  because  he  is  born  of  God. "f 

Here  then  are  the  four  doctrines  as  they  stand  in 
the  Scriptures,  joined  together  in  the  same  order  in 
which  they  are  connected  in  these  lectures.  This 
alone  would  go  far  towards  confirming  the  construc- 
tion which  I  have  given;  but  there  is  one  circum- 
stance which  establishes  it,  I  should  think,  beyond 
the  reach  of  doubt.  Upon  no  other  possible  plan 
of  construction  can  the  doctrines  contained  in  the 
four  classes  of  texts  be  strunor  together  in  one  in- 
dissoluble  chain.  If  you  say  for  instance,  that  the 
inoral  deadness  ascribed  to  man  means  a  j;«^«?z  state, 
that  regeneration  is  only  a  conversion  from  pagan- 
ism to  the  knowledge  and  profession  of  Christianity, 
and  that  election  is  nothing  more  than  a  selection 

*  John  vi.  39.  and  x.  15,  16,  26—29.  and  xv.  16.  and  xvii.  2,  24.    Acts 
xui.  48.    Rom.  viii.  30.     Eph.  ii.  1.        t  1  John  iii.  9. 


LECT.    XII.]  CONFIRMED.  239 

of  the  nations  to  be  visited  with  the  light  of  the  Gos- 
pel; here  are  three  links,  but  where  is  the  fourth? 
Perseverance  is  altogether  excluded.  But  this  is 
plainly  connected  with  the  rest  as  they  stand  in  the 
Bible.  Try  any  other  plan  of  construction,  and  the 
result  will  be  the  same.  The  more  deeply  this  ar- 
gument is  considered,  the  more  plain  will  it  appear 
that  this  construction  must  certainly  be  right.  But 
in  confirmation  of  it  I  have  something  still  more 
decisive  to  offer.     I  add, 

[2.]  That  the  doctrines  supported  by  the  most 
obvious  meaninoj  of  these  four  classes  of  texts, 
growing  together  as  they  do  by  the  inviolable  con- 
nexion of  premiss  and  consequence^  lend  each  other 
an  influence  to  settle  the  construction  abundantly 
more  than  fourfold.  That  a  book  in  its  obvious 
meaning  should  distinctly  support  a  premiss,  (say 
total  depravity,  as  it  has  been  explained;)  and  then 
by  a  literal  construction  as  plainly  support  an  in- 
ference deducible  only  from  that  premiss,  (say  re- 
generation, as  it  has  been  explained;)  and  then  in 
its  literal  import  as  decidedly  support  another  in- 
ference deductive  only  from  the  former,  (say  elec- 
tion, as  it  has  been  explained;)  and  then  by  a 
plain  construction  as  clearly  support  a  third  infer- 
ence deducible  only  from  the  second,  (say  perse- 
verance, as  it  has  been  explained;)  and  after  all 
mean  neither,  but  something  entirely  different;  is 
vastly  more  incredible  than  that  it  should  speak 
unintelligibly  on  a  single  point  in  instances  equally 
numerous.  There  is  indeed  one  case  which  must 
be  considered  an  exception.  Where  the  writer  is 
labouring  to  support  a  figure  of  speech^  and  carries 
out  the  figure  through  the  several  inferences,  nei- 
ther the  premiss  nor  any  of  the  consequences  re- 
quire or  admit  a  literal  construction.  But  noth- 
ing of  this  kind  occurs  in  the  present  case.  You 
find  the  texts  belonging  to  each  class  detached, 
and  scattered  through  the  Old  Testament  and  the 


240  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.    All. 

New,    incorporated   with    artless    narratives,    with 
proverbs,  with  sacred  songs,  with  plain  didactic  dis- 
courses, with  familiar  epistles,  and  with  every  spe- 
cies of  composition.      You  might  as  well  say  that    I 
the  whole  Bible  is  one  figure  of  speech. 

The  strength  of  this  argument  may  be  faintly 
illustrated  by  the  following  case.  You  find  it  as- 
serted twenty  times  in  a  history  of  modern  Europe, 
that  a  spark  was  communicated  to  a  magazine  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Rome.  The  meaning  of  the 
historian  is  called  in  question.  I  examine  and  find, 
in  diflferent  parts  of  the  book,  twenty  distinct  as- 
sertions that  a  dreadful  explosion  was  produced  by 
the  means.  Here  is  a  necessary  consequence  from 
the  premiss  as  first  understood.  You  still  doubt 
the  author's  meaning.  I  examine  again  and  find, 
in  detached  parts  of  the  narrative,  twenty  posi- 
tive assertions  that  the  explosion  shook  the  ivhole 
city  of  Rome.  Here  is  another  necessary  conse- 
quence from  the  latter.  You  still  doubt  whether 
the  meaninsj  in  either  case  is  understood.  I  search 
further  and  find,  dispersed  through  the  history  in 
different  forms,  twenty  plain  declarations  that  the 
whole  city  was  filled  with  consternation^  and  pres- 
ently after  with  loud  inquiries  how  the  magazine 
took  fire.  Here  is  another  natural  consequence 
from  the  last.  I  now  ask  whether  the  author's 
meaning  is  not  more  indubitably  fixed  than  though 
he  had  repeated  the  first  assertion  eighty  times, 
without  noticing  this  string  of  eflfects? 

But  even  this  case  does  not  express  the  full 
force  of  the  argument,  for  want  of  a  closer  mutual 
connexion  of  the  parts:  for  the  explosion,  the 
shock,  and  the  consternation,  might  have  followed 
from  a  volcano  or  an  earthquake.  Let  us  look 
upon  the  case  as  it  really  stands.  I  bring  a  nu- 
merous class  of  texts  which  plainly,  and  forcibly, 
and  in  all  the  varieties  of  language,  assert  the  doc- 
trine of  total  depravity,  in  the  sense  in  which  it 


LECr.    XII.]  CONFIRMED.  24] 

has  been  explained.      I   fortify  this  proof  with  col- 
lateral  points,   that  press  upon    the   doctrine    and 
force  it  into  this  precise  shape;  such  as  the  nature 
of  holiness  and  sin,  the  exclusive  nature  of  love  of 
the  world,  and  several  other  things  expressly  taught 
in  the  Scriptures.     You  still  doubt  the  correctness 
of  my  construction.     I   tell  you   that  if  I  am  right 
you  may  expect  to  find  in  the  Bible  a  doctrine  that 
is  an   unavoidable  inference  from  this,   but  which 
cannot  be  true  if  this  is  false;  and  that  is  regener- 
ation, in  the  sense  in  which  it  has  been  explained. 
To  test  my  construction   we  go  on  to   search  for 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  and  find  it  support- 
ed, precisely  in  this  shape,  by  the  obvious  mean- 
ing of  thirty  or  forty  plain  and  forcible  texts.     You 
doubt  my  construction  of  these  texts.      I  tell  you 
that  if  I   am  right  you  may  expect  to  find  in  the 
Bible  a  doctrine  that  is  an  unavoidable  inference 
from  the  latter,  but  which  cannot  be  true  if  the 
latter  is  false;  and  that  is   absolute  personal  elec- 
tion.    To  test  my  construction  we  go  on  to  search 
for  the  doctrine  of  absolute  personal  election,  and 
find  it  supported  by  the  testimony  of  a  long  cata- 
logue of  texts,  in  terms  as  precise  and  explicit  as 
any  language  can   furnish.      After  all  you  doubt 
my  construction  of  these  texts.      I  tell  you  that  I 
have  learned  from  the  Bible  that  none  but  the  elect 
are  regenerated:  if  then  I  am  right  in  the  forego- 
ing interpretations,  you  may  expect  to  find  in  the 
Bible    a    doctrine    which,    after   this    information, 
becomes   an  unavoidable   inference   from   absolute 
personal  election,  but  which  cannot  be  accounted 
for  on  any  other  principle;  and  that  is  the   perse- 
verance of  the  saints.      To  test  my  construction 
still  further,  we  go  on  to  search  for  the  doctrine  of 
perseverance,  and  find  it  supported  by  explicit  dec- 
larations on  almost  every  page  of  the  Bible,  many 
of  which  indissolubly  connect  it  with  absolute  per- 


242  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.    XII 

sonal  election.  Now  I  ask,  is  not  this  vastly  more 
than  a  fourfold  proof  in  favour  of  the  construc- 
tion given  to  each  of  the  four  classes?  Had  the 
whole  number  of  texts  been  exclusively  appropri- 
ated to  support  any  one  of  these  doctrines,  they 
certainly  would  have  yielded  it  far  less  support  than 
they  now  do;  for  then  they  might  have  been  more 
easily  explained  away.  There  would  have  been 
but  one  check  to  support  such  an  attempt,  now 
there  are  four,  and  placed  in  such  a  relation  to  each 
other  as  to  have  incomparably  more  than  four  times 
the  influence  of  one. 

Suffier  me  to  make  another  illustration  of  this 
argument,  which  comes  a  little  nearer  the  truth 
than  the  one  before  attempted.  A  man  appears  in 
America,  by  the  name  of  Luke,  claiming  to  be  a 
prophet,  and  gives  many  decisive  proofs  of  a  divine 
mission.  You  doubt  the  correctness  of  his  claims. 
He  says,  "By  this  you  shall  know:  if  I  am  a  prophet 
there  is  a  child  born  to-day  at  such  a  place  in  Eu- 
rope, by  the  name  of  John  who  is  a  prophet  too." 
You  hasten  to  the  place  and  find  the  child  giving 
abundant  proof  of  miraculous  powers,  and  con- 
stantly declaring,  "If  Luke  had  not  been  a  prophet 
I  should  not  have  been  born."  You  doubt  the 
inspiration  of  John.  He  says,  "By  this  you  shall 
know:  if  I  am  a  prophet  there  is  a  child  born  to- 
day at  such  a  place  in  Africa,  by  the  name  of  Mark, 
who  is  a  prophet  too."  You  hasten  to  the  place 
and  find  the  child  giving  abundant  proof  of  mirac- 
ulous powers,  and  constantly  declaring,  "If  John 
had  not  been  born  a  prophet  neither  should  I." 
You  doubt  the  inspiration  of  Mark.  He  says,  "By 
this  you  shall  know:  if  I  am  a  prophet  there  is  a 
child  born  to-day  at  such  a  place  in  Asia,  who  is 
a  prophet  too."  You  hasten  to  the  place  and  find 
the  child  giving  abundant  proof  of  miraculous  pow- 
ers, and  frequently  saying,  "If  Mark  had  not  been 


LECT.    XII.]  APPLIED.  243 

born  a  prophet  neither  should  I."  I  ask  now 
whether  you  have  not  incomparably  more  evidence 
of  the  inspiration  of  Luke,  than  though  you  had 
staid  at  home  and  seen  him  perform  four  times  as 
many  miracles  as  he  did?  Have  you  not  incompar- 
ably more  evidence  of  the  inspiration  of  each  of 
the  four,  than  though  you  had  seen  him  stand  alone 
and  perform  four  times  as  many  miracles  as  he  did? 
Let  us  now  see  the  result  of  the  whole.  Each 
doctrine  stands  supported  by  the  whole  body  of 
texts  contained  in  the  four  classes,  and  cannot  be 
shaken  while  either  class  is  allowed  to  have  a  literal 
meaning.  And  being  strung  together,  both  by  Scrip- 
ture and  reason,  in  an  indissoluble  chain,  as  prem- 
ises and  consequences,  they  lend  each  other  an 
influence  to  fix  the  construction  almost  beyond  cal- 
culation. How  prodigious  then  is  the  proof  in  fa- 
vour of  the  whole, — in  favour  of  each.  And  now  I 
ask,  who  can  bring  as  much  evidence  to  support 
the  opposite  tenets?  The  task  to  be  performed  by 
the  man  who  would  overthrow  one  of  these  truths, 
is  to  sweep  away  the  whole  of  this  immense  body  of 
texts,  with  the  incalculable  influence  they  lend  each 
other  to  settle  the  construction,  and  leave  not  a 
trace  of  the  system  behind.  He  who  is  not  prepar- 
ed for  this  herculean  labour,  with  half  the  Bible 
\  meeting  him  at  the  threshold,  should  beware  how 
j  he  undertakes. 

I    cannot  quit  this  head  without  reminding   you 
I  that  these  are  the  truths  which  have  been  revered 
;  and  loved  by  the  great  body  of  the  Christian  Church 
'  in  every  age.     They  stand  conspicuous  among  what 
I  have  been  so  often  and  justly  styled  "the  glorious 
doctrines  of  the  Reformation."     To  cherish  and  en- 
joy these  blessed  truths,  our  fathers  left  their  native 
land  and  planted  churches  in   this   howling  wilder- 
ness.    For  these  the  New-England  churches,   dur- 
ing the  first  century  and  a  half,  would  have  shed 


244  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.  XIl. 

their  blood.  And  however  unfashionable  and  pro- 
scribed they  may  now  have  become  in  a  small  dis- 
trict, these  are  still  the  doctrines  which  are  ardently 
loved  by  four-fifths  of  the  churches  of  New-Eng- 
land; which  are  held  as  corner-stones  by  the  great 
body  of  Christians  in  the  United  States,  and  by 
millions  and  millions  of  the  best  instructed  and  most 
heavenly  minded  men  throughout  the  world. 

II.  Every  system  which  rejects  these  four  doc- 
trines, is  '•^another  gospel^ 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  question  the  piety  of  all  who 
on  some  of  these  points  have  confused  ideas,  and 
may  in  words  deny  them.  I  doubt  not  that  many 
of  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  through  the  defect  of 
light,  have  erroneous  conceptions  of  election  and 
perseverance,  and  under  these  names  oppose  real 
errours.  From  not  understanding  theological  terms, 
they  deny  in  words  what  in  fact  they  believe.  Oth- 
ers have  better  hearts  than  heads,  and  possessing 
little  power  of  discrimination,  are  unable,  though 
light  is  spread  before  them,  to  distinguish  so  far  as 
to  dissolve  wrong  associations  formed  by  early  pre- 
judice; and  while  they  sincerely  love  some  of  these 
doctrines,  continue  very  inconsistently  to  deny  the 
rest.  I  have  no  reference  to  the  mistakes  of  such; 
but  to  systems  which,  with  a  dreadful  consistency, 
reject  this  ivhole  chain;  which  soften  down  the  rep- 
resentations of  human  depravity;  which  cast  away 
regeneration  and  experimental  piety,  and  place  all 
religion  in  external  duties,  performed  with  natural 
and  selfish  feelings,  and  teach  men  to  hope  for 
heaven  by  only  cleansing  "the  outside  of  the  cup 
and — platter;"  which  deny  that  "the  salvation  of  the 
righteous  is  of  the  Lord,"  and  set  aside  that  eternal 
transaction  between  the  Father  and  the  Son  which 
is  the  only  foundation  of  the  Church;  which  consti- 
tute every  man  his  own  keeper,  and  give  him  a  claim 
to  say  when  he  arrives  at  heaven,  "See,  I  have  made 


LECT.    XII.]  APPLIED.  245 

myself  to  differ."  Such  systems  do  not  stop  at  a 
perversion  of  the  four  great  classes  of  texts  which 
stand  directly  under  the  four  doctrines,  but  give  a 
new  interpretation  to  a  vast  many  passages  which 
lend  a  collateral  influence  to  support  these;  and  in 
their  attempts  to  accommodate  the  Bible  to  the  op- 
posite errours,  twist  a  larfre  portion  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  most  vital  part  o"f  them,  to  a  new  and  false 
construction.  And  when  they  have  gone  this  length 
in  frittering  away  man's  dependance  on  grace,  they 
are  just  prepared  to  place  him  completely  upon  his 
own  works,  to  deny  justification  by  faith,  and  of 
course  the  proper  influence  of  the  atonement.  Short 
of  this  these  systems  never  stop.  And  when  they 
have  gone  thus  far,  there  is  but  one  step  to  a  denial 
of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  the  infinite  demerit  of 
sin.  The  next  step  is  universalism,  and  the  next, 
infidelity.  But  without  pushing  them  to  these  ex- 
tremes, it  is  evident  enough  that  they  are  ^'another 
gospel"  from  that  which  comprehends  the  four  doc- 
trines. They  have  scarcely  any  thing  in  common 
with  it.  The  God  which  they  present  is  not  the 
same.  (This  they  allow  and  maintain  when  they 
are  not  under  trial,  and  often  allege  that  the  God  of 
Calvinists  is  a  tyrant.)  The  administration  of  his 
government  is  not  the  same;  the  work  of  the  Saviour 
is  not  the  same;  the  work  of  the  Spirit  is  not  the 
same;  the  character  and  condition  of  man  are  not 
the  same;  the  terms  of  salvation  are  not  the  same; 
holiness,  the  vital  principle  of  all  religion,  is  not  the 
same.  The  whole  plan  of  salvation,  from  the  first 
counsels  in  heaven  to  the  completion  of  the  work 
in  glory,  is  altogether  changed, — changed  so  as  to 
be  exactly  accommodated  to  a  proud  and  selfish 
heart,  and  fitted  to  form  the  religion  of  a  gay  and 
dissipated  world.  This  new  gospel  leaves  "the  car- 
nal mind"  undisturbed,  and  even  conceals  and  de- 
nies its  existence.     No  wonder  that  it  finds  no  car- 


246  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.    Xli 

nal  mind  rising  up  in  its  way,  for  it  is  exactly  such 
religion  as  the  carnal  heart  loves.  No  wonder  that  i 
detects  no  "enmity  against  God,"  for  the  god  whic 
it  exhibits  is  precisely  such  a  one  as  the  selfish  heai 
approves.  No  wonder  that  it  calls  for  no  radicf 
change  of  heart,  for  the  natural  feelings  of  mai 
tutored  by  a  few  moral  precepts  are  precisely  wha 
pleases  it  best. 

All  this  time  this  new  gospel  is  nothing  but  a  sys 
tern  of  enmity  against  the  ti'ue  God.     It   violentl 
resists  all  those  truths  in  which  the  real  charac 
TER  OF  God  is  chiefly  expressed.     It  shows  7no7 
rancour  against  these  than  against  any  other  set  c; 
reputed  errours.     Were  there  no  other  proof  of  it 
being  "another  gospel,"  this  alone  would  foreve 
settle  the  point.  A  Jew  may  establish  his  synagogu 
by  its  side,  and  it  looks  on  unmoved.     A  Romai 
Catholic,  a  Quaker,  a  Universalist,  an  infidel,  nia_ 
carry  on  his  worship  before  its  eye,  and  it  tolerate 
them  all.     But  let  these  doctrines  and  their  kindret 
truths  be  brought  forward,  and  there  is  a  louder  out 
cry  than  at  all  the  rest.     I  wish  to  speak  with  can 
dour  and  tenderness,  for  I  know  in  whose  name  an( 
cause  I  am  speaking;  but  I   should  belie  the  stead; 
voice  of  experience  if  I  did  not  say,  that  this  othe 
gospel  shows  more  rancour  against  the  truths  sup 
ported  in  these  lectures,  than  against  any  set  of  er 
rours  on  earth,  whether  infidel,  Jewish,  Mahometan 
or   pagan.     It  would  rather    the    heathen   nation 
should  remain  at  the  temple  of  Juggernaut,  than  b( 
enlightened  by  truths  like  these.     It  regards   witi 
greater  displeasure  a  revival  of  religion  upon  thes( 
principles,  than  any  of  the  dissipations  of  the  thea 
tre.     It  treats  with  more  kindness  and  cordiality  anj 
of  the  men  of  the  world  than  the  professors  of  thi^; 
religion;  even  while,  for  certain  ends,  it  stands  b)| 
the  tombs  of  our  Calvinistic  fathers  and  sings  hosan- 
nas  over  their  dust. 


LECT.  XII.]  APPLIED.  247 

III.  Allow  me  to  press  the  infinite  importance  of 
ascertaining,  by  deep  and  careful  examination,  what 

'the  true  Gospel  is. 

You  have  often  read  in  your  Bible,  "He  that  he- 
lieveth — shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  helievethnot  shall 
be  damned."  It  is  then  a  settled  point  that  salvation 
is  suspended  on  a  belief  of  the  Gospel.  But  what 
is  a  belief  of  the  Gospel^  Not  a  belief  of  the  pro- 
position, that  on  the  pages  bound  up  in  a  certain 
volume  divine  truths  are  inscribed,  without  any  spe- 
cific ideas  of  the  truths  themselves.  Much  less  is 
it  a  rejection  of  the  essential  parts  of  those  truths 
and  a  belief  of  ^^aiiother  gospel."  On  the  belief  of 
the  true  Gospel  salvation  is  suspended,  not  on  the 

"belief  of  a /rtZse  one;  on  the  acceptance  of  the  true 
Saviour,  not  on  the  acceptance  of  a  saviour  as  dif- 
ferent from  the  true  as  a  creature  is  from  God;  on 

(the  worship  of  the  t?'ue  God,  not  on  the  worship  of 
a  being  decked  out  with   attributes,    and  invested 

'with  a  dominion,  as  different  from   the  perfections 

■and  government  of  Jehovah,  as  the  supreme  deity 
of  the    Brahmins  is  from  the  God  of  the  Bible.     It 

'is  capable  of  the  most  unquestionable  proof  that 
every  cardinal  errour  in  religion  is  a  misapprehen- 

I  sion  and  misrepresentation  of  the  character  or  gov- 
ernment of  God,  and  that  every  system  of  errour  ac- 

■  tually  supports  o.  false  god.  It  is  equally  certain 
that  enmity  to  the  essential  truths  in  which  the  charac- 

='  tcr  of  God  is  expressed,  is  enmity  to  God  himself.  If 
then  idolatry  and  hatred  of  the  true  God  are  not  the 
faith  on  which  salvation  is  suspended,  a  system  of 
cardinal  errours,  persisted  in  after  light  is  display- 
ed, must  debar  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If 
he  who  merely  believes  not  "shall  be  damned,"  what 
will  become  of  those  who  not  only  disbelieve  the 
true  Gospel,  but  build  a  false  gospel  on  its  ruins? 

It  becomes  then  as  important  as  your  eternal  sal- 
vation to  betake  yourselves  to  a  solemn  and  diligent 


248  THE    SYSTEM  [leCT.  XII. 

examination  to  discover  what  the  true  Gospel  is.  If 
the  doctrines  supported  in  these  lectures,  and  their 
kindred  truths,  really  constitute  the  true  Gospel,  it 
is  infinitely  important  for  you  to  know  it.  But  I 
fear  that  some  of  you  will  say,  "These  articles  may 
be  true,  but  my  religion  will  do  as  well:  no  matter 
which  is  right  if  we  are  only  goody  Here  comes 
out  that  dreadful  dogma,  the  invention  and  trick  of 
modern  infidelity, — soaked  and  drenched  in  infidel- 
ity to  the  very  core, — that  it  is  no  matter  what 

A    MAN    BELIEVES    PROVIDED      HIS      CONDUCT     IS  RIGHT. 

This  bantling  of  infidelity  has  been  foisted  into  the 
Christian  Church  and  profanely  baptised  by  the 
name  of  Charity,  But  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
charity  except  the  name;  for  "charity,"  if  you  will 
credit  an  apostle,  "believeth  all  things^^  and  "re- 
JOiCETH  IN  the  truth. "^  If  this  counterfeit  hol- 
low thing  which  dares  to  take  the  sacred  name  of 
Charity,  had  not  renounced  the  Bible,  it  would  have 
known  that  errours  in  faith  are  the  oflfspring  of 
a  wicked  heart,  and  are  criminal,  and  as  decisive  a 
proof  of  irreligion  as  immoral  practice.  What  else 
can  be  the  meaning  of  a  hundred  such  passages  as 
these?  "He — upbraided  them  with  their  iinbeltef  and 
hardness  of  heart,  because  they  believed  not^  "O  fools 
and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have 
spoken."  "He  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the  name  of 
the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  And  this  is  the  con- 
demnation,  that  light  is  coAie  into  the  world  and  men 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light  because  their  deeds 
were  evil.  For  every  one  that  doth  evil  hateth  the 
light,  neither  cometh  to  the  light  lest  his  deeds 
should  be  reproved."  "For  this  they  willingly  are 
ignorant  of."  "They — became  vain  in  their  imagina- 
tions and  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened."      "Even 

*  1  Cor.  xiii.  6,  7, 


LECT.    XII.]  APPLIED.  249 

unto  this  day  when  Moses  is  read  the  vail  is  upon 
their  heart;  nevertheless  when  it,  [the  hcart,^  shall 
turn  to  the  Lord  the  vail  shall  he  taken  awayy 
"Having  the  understanding  darkened — through  the 
ignorance  that  is  in  them  because  of  the  blindness 
q/*  their  hearth  "Why  do  ye  not  understand  my 
speech?  even  because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word. 
Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  your 
father  ye  will  do:  he  was  a  murderer  from  the 
beginning,  and  abode  not  in  the  truth,  because  there 
is  no  truth  in  him:  when  he  speakcth  a  lie  he 
speaketh  of  his  own,  for  he  is  a  liar  and  the  father  of 
it.  And  because  I  tell  you  the  truth  ye  believe  me  not. 
— He  that  is  of  God  hearcth  God''s  words:  ye  therefore 
hear  them  not  because  ye  are  not  of  Gody  "A  deceived 
heart  hath  turned  him  aside  that  he  cannot  deliver 
his  soul  nor  say,  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my  right  hand?" 
"If — thine  eye  be  single  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full 
of  light;  but  if  thine  eye  be  evil  thy  whole  body 
shall  be  full  of  darkness. ^^  "God  is  light  and  in  him 
is  no  darkness  at  all.  Ifive  say  that  we  have  fellowship 
with  him  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie  and  do  not  the 
truth:  but  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the 
light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another. — As  ye 
have  heard  that  antichrist  shall  come,  even  now 
there  are  many  antichrists. — They  went  out  from  us 
hut  they  were  not  of  us;  for  if  they  had  been  of  tis  they 
would  no  doubt  have  continued  luith  us;  but  they  weyit 
out  that  they  might  be  made  manifest  that  they  were  not 
all  of  us.  But  ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One, 
and  ye  know  all  things.  I  have  not  written  unto  you 
because  ye  know  not  the  truth,  but  because  ye  know 
it,  and  that  no  lie  is  of  the  truth. — Let  that  therefore 
abide  in  you  which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning. 
If  that  which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning  remain 
in  you,  ye  also  shall  continue  in  the  Son  and  in  the 
Father. — These  things  have  I  written  unto  you 
concerning  them  that  seduce  you.  But  the  anointing 
22 


i 

250  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.    XII,      i 

which  ye  have  received  of  him  abideth  in  you;  and  ye  ' 
need  not  that  any  man  teach  you,  but  as  the  same  anoint- 
ing teacheth  you  of  all  things,  and  is  truth,  and  is  no  \ 
lie,  and  even  as  it  hath  taught  you,  ye  shall  abide  in  him. 
— Beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the 
spirits  whether  they  are  of  God;  because  many  false 
prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world. — They  are  of 
the  world;  therefore  speak  they  of  the  world,  and  the 
world  heareth  them:  we  are  of  God;  he  that  knowcth 
God  heareth  us;  he  that  is  not  of  God  heareth  not  us: 
hereby  know  we  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of 
errour."  "I  rejoiced  greatly  that  I  found  of  thy 
children  walking  in  the  truth,  as  we  have  received  a 
commandment  from  the  Father; — w^hom  I  love  in  the 
truth,  and  not  I  only,  but  all  they  that  have  Jcnoivn 
the  truth;  for  the  truth's  sake  which  dwelleth  in  us  and 
shall  be  with  us  forever.^^  "I  rejoiced  greatly  when 
the  brethren  came  and  testified  of  the  truth  that  is  in 
thee,  even  as  thou  walkest  in  the  truth.  I  have  no 
greater  joy  than  to  hear  that  my  children  walk  in 
truth.^^  "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath 
the  witness  in  himself;  he  that  believeth  not  God  hath 
made  him  a  liar."  "This  is  his  commandment  that  you 
should  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 
*'if  any  man  will  do  his  will  he  shall  know  of  the  doC' 
trine  whether  it  be  of  God  or  ivhether  I  speak  of  my- 
self."  "Therefore  speak  I  to  them  in  parables, 
because  they  seeing  see  not,  and  hearing  they  hear  not, 
neither  do  they  understand.  And  in  them  is  fulfilled 
the  prophecy  of  Esaias,  which  saith.  By  hearing  ye 
shall  hear  and  shall  not  understand,  and  seeing  ye 
shall  see  and  shall  not  perceive;  for  this  people's 
heart  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hear- 
ing, and  their  eyes  have  they  closed,  lest  at  any  time 
they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their 
ears,  and  should  undkrstand  with  their  heart, 
and  should  be  converted. — When  any  one  heareth 
the  word  and  understandeth  it  not, — this  is  he  which 


LECT.    XII.]  APPLIED.  251 

received  seed  by  the  way  side. — But  he  that  received 
seed  into  the  good  ground,  is  he  that  heareth  the 
word  and  understandeth  it^      ^'Perceive  ye  not  yet, 
neither  understand?    have   ye   your   hearts  yet  har- 
denedV^  ^'Be  ye  not  iimvlse,  hut  understanding  what  the 
lolll  of  the  Lord  is.''    "God  gave  them  over  to  a  repro- 
bate mind, — being  filled  with  all  unrighteousness, — « 
loithout  understanding.''      "The  Son  of  God  is  come 
and  hath  given  us  an  understanding  that  we  may  know 
him."      "If  our  Gospel  be  hid  it  is  hid  to  them  that 
are  lost;  in  whom  the  god  of  this  ivorld  hath  blinded  the 
minds  of  them  ivhich  believe  not."    "In  which  are  some 
things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  they  that  are 
unlearned  and  unstable  ivrest,  as  they  do  the  other 
Scriptures,  unto  their  own  destruction.      Ye  therefore, 
beloved,  seeing  ye  know  these  things  before,  beware 
lest  ye  also,  being  led  away  by  the  errour  of  the  wicked, 
fall  from  your  own  steadfastness."      "For  this  cause 
God  shall  send  them  strong  delusions  that  they  shoidd 
believe  a  lie,  that  they  all  might  be  damned  who  believed 
not  the  truthbut  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness."  "The 
heart  of  the    wise   teacheth  his  mouth,  and    addeth 
learning  to  his  lips. — There  is  a  way  that  seemeth 
right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways 
of  death."     "Whosoever   transgresseth    and   abideik 
not  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  hath  not   God:  he  that 
abideth  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  he  hath  both  the  Father 
and  the  Son.     If  there  come  any  unto  you  and  bring 
not  this  doctrine,  receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither 
bid  him  God  speed;   for  he  that  biddeth  him  God  speed 
is  partaker  of  his  evil  deeds."      ^'Henceforth  be  no  more 
children  tossed  to  and  fro  and  carried  about  with  every 
wind   of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men  and  cunning 
craftiness  ivhereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive."     "^e  not 
carried  about  with  divers  and  strange  doctrines,  for  it 

IS  A    GOOD    THING    THAT    THE    HEART    BE    ESTABLISHED 

WITH  GRACE."     "For  tiic  time  will  come  when  they 
will  not  endure  sound  doctrine;     but  after  their  own 


252  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.    XII. 

hsts  shall  they  heap  to  themselves  teachers,  having 
itching  ears;  and  they  shall  turn  away  their  ears 
from  the  truth  and  shall  be  turned  unto  fables.^^  j 
*'The  works  of  the  flesh — are  heresies."  "A  man  that 
is  a  heretic,  after  the  first  and  second  admonition 
reject;  knowing  that  he  that  is  such  is  subverted  and 
sinneth,  being  condemned  of  himself,"  "There  must 
be — heresies  among  you  that  they  which  are  approved 
may  be  made  manifest  "  "There  were  false  prophets 
also  among  the  people,  even  as  there  shall  be  false 
teachers  among  you,  who  privily  shall  bring  in 
damnable  heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that 
BOUGHT  them,  and  bring  upon  themselves  sivift  de- 
struction. And  many  shall  follow  their  pernicious 
ways,  by  reason  of  whom  the  ivay  of  truth  shall  be  evil 
spoken  of;  whose  judgment  now  of  a  long  time  linger- 
eth  not,  and  their  damnation  slumbereth  not."^ 

If  these  and  many  more  similar  texts  do  not 
decide  tfie  point  that  errours  are  both  blamable  and 
destructive,  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  prove  any 
thing  from  the  Bible.  Indeed  if  a  denial  of  one 
half  of  the  truths  of  Christianity  is  not  criminal,  no 
reason  can  be  given  why  downright  infidelity  is. 
And  if  infidelity  is  not,  why  did  our  Saviour  say  to 
the  Jews,  "If  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall 
die  in  your  sins"?  And  why  were  the  Jews  "broken 
off"  and  so  dreadfully  punished  for  "unbelief"? 
And  why  is  it  said  to  all  nations,  "He  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned"?  And  will  you  after  all  say 
that  a  man  is  not  answerable  for  his  faith? 

This  point  being  settled,  it  is  manifest  that  if  the 
four  doctrines  which   have  been  supported  do   in 

*  Piov.  xvi.  23,  25.  Isai.  xliv.  20.  Mat.  vi.  22;  23.  and  xiii.  13—15, 
19,23.  Mark  viii.  17.  and  xvi.  14.  Luke  xxiv.  25.  John  iii.  18—20.  and 
vii.  17.  and  viii.  43—45,  47.  Rom.  i.  21,  28,  29,  31.  1  Cor.  xi.  19.  2  Cor. 
iii.  15,  IG.  and  iv.  3,  4.  Gal.  v.  19,  20.  Eph.  iv.  14,  18.  and  v.  17. 
2Thes.  ii.  11,  12.  2  Tim.  iv.  3,  4.  Tit.  iii.  10,  11.  Heb.  xiii.  9.  2Pet. 
ii.  1—3.  and  iii.  5,  16,  17.  1  John  i.  5—7.  and  ii.  18—27.  and  iii.  23.  and 
jv.  J,  5. 6.  and  v.  10,  20.    2  John  1,  2,  4,  9—11.     3  John  3,  4. 


LECT.    Xil.]  APPLIED.  253 

truth  belong  to  the  Gospel,  the  opposite  errours,  to 
say  the  least,  must  endanger  your  salvation.  What 
language  then  can  express  the  infinite  importance 
of  entering  without  delay  on  a  deep  and  solemn  ex- 
amination into  these  matters?  It  is  truly  distressing 
to  observe  the  dreadful  indifference  which  prevails 
on  the  question,  what  is  truth?  Hence  the  lamenta- 
ble ignorance  of  people  who  have  been  brought  up 
under  the  light  of  the  Gospel.  Such  indifference 
had  not  Paul  when  he  said,  and  with  an  emphasis 
repeated,  "Though  we  or  an  angel  from  heaven 
preach  any  other  gospel, — let  him  be  accursed." 
This  baleful  indifference,  couched  under  the  impos- 
ing name  of  Charity,  threatens  to  yield  up  the  last 
fragment  of  truth  which  we  received  as  a  legacy 
from  our  fathers,  and  to  leave  our  poor  children 
without  inheritance, — except  those  delusions  which 
will  drown  them  in  perdition.  If  any  thing  is  likely 
to  cut  off  our  children  from  hope,  it  is  this  cruel 
indifference:  for  if  you  can  once  be  brought  to  feel 
the  importance  of  examining  with  earnestness  and 
prayer,  there  is  no  fear  for  the  issue.  If  then  you 
have  any  compassion  for  your  children,  throw  off 
this  apathy,  and  like  the  noble  Bereans  arise  and 
search  the  Scriptures.  In  them  you  will  find  a  con- 
firmation of  the  faith  of  our  fathers,  and  will  hear 
them  say,  "Stand  ye  in  the  ways  and  see,  and  ask 
for  the  OLD  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk 
therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls. "^ 
Every  friend  of  the  Church,  every  friend  of  society, 
every  friend  of  the  rising  generation,  ought  to  give 
no  sleep  to  his  eyes  nor  slumber  to  his  eye-lids  till 
he  has  examined  these  first  principles  to  the  bottom 
and  become  well  grounded  and  settled  in  the  truth. 
Drop  every  other  concern,  forget  your  business, 
forget  your  sleep,  forget  your  food  rather  than  this 

*  Jer.  vi.  16. 

*22 


254  THE     SYSTEM  [lECT.    XII. 

inquiry.  O  that  there  was  a  voice  to  send  this 
heavenly  mandate  through  every  heart,  "Search 
THE  Scriptures."  If  you  find  not  there  the  doc- 
trines which  I  have  set  forth,  reject  them:  I  charge 
you  upon  your  peril,  reject  them.  Call  no  man  mas- 
ter, but  examine  the  Scriptures  for  yourselves.  It 
is  they  who  by  business  and  amusements  are  detain- 
ed from  their  Bibles,  that  drink  in  the  poisonous 
errours  of  the  day. 

Were  there  but  one  chance  in  a  thousand  that 
these  doctrines  will  prove  true  at  last,  no  man, 
bound  to  the  eternal  judgment,  ought  to  rest  till  he 
has  explored  them  to  the  bottom.  For  if  they  do 
prove  true,  and  you  venture  forward  into  eternity 
upon  the  ground  of  a  heartless  morality,  you  are  as 
certainly  lost  as  though  you  were  infidels.  While 
you  have  the  sure  testimony  of  God  in  your  hands, 
rest  not, — I  conjure  you  by  all  that  is  sacred,  rest 
not  your  eternal  all  upon  a  doubtful  basis. 

One  evil,  never  enough  to  be  deplored  is,  that 
people  do  not  and  will  not  distinguish.  They  are 
pleased  with  different  preachers,  who  bring  as  dif- 
ferent gospels  as  the  koran  is  diflferent  from  the 
Bible.  They  are  as  ready  to  put  themselves  in 
the  way  of  hearing  errour  as  truth,  and  swallow 
down  whatever  comes,  provided  only  it  is  grace- 
fully administered.  Such  people  are  like  children 
rushing  into  an  apothecary's  shop,  and  tasting  at 
random  of  every  vial,  without  the  power  of  dis- 
tinguishing medicines  from  poisons.  It  requires  no 
spirit  of  prophecy  to  perceive  that  such  a  course  is 
likely  to  prove  fatal.  If  the  doctrines  supported  in 
these  lectures  are  the  truths  of  God,  then  those  min- 
istrations which  soften  down  the  representations  of 
human  depravity,  which  reject  the  scriptural  idea 
of  regeneration,  and  place  all  religion  in  external 
duties,  performed  with  natural  feelings  a  little  im- 
proved, are  certainly  leading  men  to  perdition^  and 


LECT.    XII.]  APPLIED.  255 

ought  to  be  shunned  as  one  of  the  severest  scourges 
ever  inflicted  by  heaven  on  a  degenerate  people.    I 
feel  myself  bound  to  offer   this  solemn  testimony, 
and  I  do  it  without  personal  disrespect  to  any  man; 
whoever  preaches  '' another  gospeV^  ought  not  to  he  heard 
a  moment.    By  hearing  you  countenance  errour  and 
hold    up  hands  stretched   out,   (however   uninten- 
tionally,) to  scatter  death;  you  expose  yourselves  to 
contagion,  and  by  a  fatal  example   lead  your  undis- 
cerning  children  in  the  road  to  eternal  ruin.     Par- 
ents who  do   this  must  answer  it  to  God.     Would 
Paul  have  done  this  when  he  fervently  pronounced, 
"Though  we  or  an  angel  from  heaven  preach  any 
other  gospel, — let  him  be  accursed"?  Would  John 
have  done  this  when  he  said,  "If  there  come  any 
unto  you  and  bring  not  this  doctrine,  receive  him 
not  into  your  house,  neither  bid  him  God  speed;  for 
he   that  hiddtth  him    God  speed  is  partaker  of  his  evil 
deeds^^?  The  blessed  martyr  Irenseus,  who  lived  in 
the  age  immediately  after  the  apostles,  has  preserv- 
ed the  following  anecdotes  of  the  beloved  disciple, 
and  of  Polycarp,  "the  angel  of  the  church  of  Smyr- 
na," who  is  so  highly  commended  in  the  Revelation. 
"There  are  some  now  living,"  says  he,  "who  heard 
[Polycarp]  relate   this  fact;  that  John,  the  disciple 
of  our  Lord,  going  to  bathe  at  Ephesus,   and  seeing 
Cerinthus  within,  [who   among  other   things  held, 
with  modern  Socinians,  ih^i  Jesus  ivas  only  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,-]  leaped  from  the  bath  unwashed, 
saying  that  he    was  afraid  the    bath  would  fall,  as 
Cerinthus  the  enemy  of  truth  was  in  it.     And  Poly- 
carp himself  replied  to  Marcion,  who  met  him  one 
day  and  said.  Do  you  know  me?  I  know  you  to  be 
the  first-born  of  Satan.     So  much  fear,"  continues 
Irenseus,  "had  the   apostles    and  their   disciples  of 
communicating  even  in  word  with  any  of  those  who 
corrupted  the  truth;   as  Paul  also  said,  A   heretic 

*  Irensei  lib.  1.  contra  Haereses,  cap.  26. 


OA 


56  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.    XII. 

after  one  admonition  avoid,  knowing  that  he  that  is 
such  is  subverted,  and  is  condemned  of  himself."* 
The  genuineness  of  this  record  is  fully  confirmed  by 
its  being  not  only  found  in  the  Works  of  Irenseus, 
but  quoted  also  by  Eusebius.f  Polycarp,  you  must 
know,  was  the  disciple  of  John,  and  was,  as  Irenaeus 
himself  remarks,  "not  only  taught  by  the  apostles, 
and  conversant  with  many  of  those  who  had  seen  our 
Lord,  but  constituted  by  the  apostles  in  Asia  bishop 
of  the  church  of  Smyrna,"  and  in  extreme  old  age 
gloriously  suffered  martrydom.J  Irencsus  himself 
was  the  disciple  of  Polycarp.  He  was  born  in  Asia, 
near  where  John  lived  and  died,  and  afterwards 
became  bishop  of  Lyons  in  France.  In  his  Epistle 
to  Florinus,  written  in  his  old  age,  he  says,  "I  saw 
you  when  I  was  yet  a  boy  in  the  lesser  Asia  with 
Polycarp. — For  the  things  which  were  then  done  I 
remember  better  than  those  which  have  happened 
lately; — insomuch  that  I  could  even  describe  the 
place  where  the  blessed  Polycarp  used  to  sit  and 
reason,  and  his  going  out  and  coming  in,  and  his 
manner  of  life,  and  bodily  appearance,  and  finally 
the  discourses  which  he  delivered  to  the  multitude, 
and  how  he  told  them  of  his  familiar  intimacy  with 
John,  and  with  the  rest  who  had  seen  the  Lord,  as 
also  how  he  rehearsed  their  sayings,  and  related  the 
things  which  he  had  heard  of  them  respecting  the 
Lord,  and  his  miracles,  and  doctrine,  which  Poly- 
carp had  received  from  those  who  had  themselves 
seen  the  Word  of  Life. — These  things  which  hap- 
pened at  that  time,  through  the  goodness  of  God  I 
eagerly  heard,  writing  them,  not  on  paper,  but  in 
my  heart,  and  am  continually,  through  the  grace  of 
God,  revolving  them  with  exactness  in  my  mind. 
And  in  the  presence  of  God  I  can  make  the  solemn 
protestation,  that  that  blessed  and  apostolic  presby- 

*  Idem  lib.  3.  cap.  3. 

t  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  3.  cap.  28.  &  lib.  4.  cap.  14. 

i  Irenaei  lib.  3.  contra  HsereseS;  cap.  3. 


LECT.  XII.]  APPLIED.  257 

ter,  had  he  heard  any  such  thing,  would  certainly 
have  exclaimed,  and  with  his  ears  stopped  would 
have  said,  as  his  manner  was,  Good  God!  to  what 
times  hast  thou  reserved  me  that  I  should  endure 
these  things!  and  would  have  fled  from  the  place 
itself,  in  which  sitting  or  standing  he  should  have 
heard  dkcourses  of  this  sort."^ 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  primitive  Church, — of 
apostles  and  martyrs.  But  we  are  fallen  on  other 
times, — on  times  when  it  has  become  an  unpardon- 
ble  offence  to  frown  at  heresy,  much  more  to  separ- 
ate from  those  who  preach  "another  gospel."  They 
who  have  no  wish  to  give  offence  or  pain,  but  dare 
not  for  their  lives  place  themselves  and  their  dear 
children  under  the  sound  of  "another  gospel"  for  a 
single  day,  must  be  hunted  out  of  the  world  because 
they  do  not  grow  to  seats  which  resound  with  noth- 
ing else.  They  hear  a  voice  from  heaven,  "Come 
out  from  among  them  and  be  ye  separate, — and 
touch  not  the  unclean  thing;"  and  they  fear  to  dis- 
obey. Let  this  be  their  justification  with  all  who 
have  not  renounced  the  Christian  name.  Indeed 
this  separation  had  become  indispensable.  Were 
all  the  people  to  go  on  together  a  few  years  longer, 
the  whole  mass  would  be  carried  down  the  stream, 
and  all  the  rising  generation  inevitably  plunged  into 
the  gulph  beneath.  This  alliance  between  light 
and  darkness  is  just  as  the  enemy  of  God  and  man 
would  have  it.  It  is  the  master-piece  of  his  policy 
to  root  out  the  last  remains  of  the  piety  and  faith  of 
our  fathers. 

Before  I  conclude  I  must  bespeak  your  most 
solemn  attention  to  a  few  reflections.  I  pray  you 
to  listen  for  a  moment  with  no  ordinary  concern. 
I  have  something  to  lay  before  you  which  is  of  more 
vital  importance  to  you  than  any  other  considera- 
tions on  earth. 

*  Irensei  opera  p.  339,  340.    Paris  Ed.  1710. 


258  THE    SYSTEM  [lECT.  XII. 

If  these  four  doctrines  are  eternal  truths,  what 
is  to  become  of  the  greater  part  of  my  hearers? 
Are  half  of  you  upon  these  principles  prepared  for 
judgment?  If  these  doctrines  are  true,  every  one 
of  you  must  be  horn  again  or  lie  down  in  everlast- 
ing sorrows.  Neither  your  morality  nor  your  in- 
difference will  screen  you.  Have  you  been  horn 
again?  You  are  going  on  to  eternity  as  fast  as 
time  can  waft  you.  The  interposition  of  a  world 
could  not  retard  your  progress.  Presently  you 
will^  tremble  on  a  dying  bed.  ^re  you  prepared 
for  judgment?  Those  very  eyes  will  see  a  falling 
universe.  Those  very  feet  will  stand  before  the 
bar  of  God.  I  see  the  heavens  opening,  the  vSon 
of  man  descending,  the  dead  arising,  the  world 
burning,  and  my  dear  hearers  before  the  bar. 
Where  now  is  that  thin  morality  that  covered  an 
infidel  heart?  The  omniscient  eye  has  dissolved  it 
by  a  look.  I  stretch  forward  my  thoughts  through 
the  revolutions  of  a  thousand  ages,  and  find  my 
hearers  still  fixed  in  heaven  or  hell.  I  wander 
through  other  periods  as  numerous  as  the  moments 
in  the  first,  and  still  I  find  you  fixed  in  heaven  or 
hell.  Is  such  an  eternity  before  you!  and  are  you 
asleep!  Are  you  not  bringing  all  your  powers  into 
one  eftort  ''to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure?" 
Can  you  slumber  with  such  an  eternity  before  you? 
Dreaming  of  the  efficacy  of  your  modes  and  forms! 
Dream  no  more:  you  must  undergo  a  radical  change 
of  heart.  "Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  [you,]  except  a 
man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God."  How  could  such  hearts  as  some  of  you  pos- 
sess be  happy  in  heaven  if  admitted  to  the  place? 
hearts  that  do  not  love  prayer,  that  do  not  love  the 
Bible,  that  do  not  love  Sabbaths,  nor  the  society  of 
God's  people.  Will  cleansing  the  outside  prepare 
such  hearts  to  relish  an  eternal  illustration  of  Bible 
truths?  to  relish  a  confinement  to  religious  company, 


LECT.    XII.]  APPLIED.  259 

and  the  devotions  of  an  everlasting  Sabbath?  As  well 
might  the  languid  invalid  who  loathes  his  food,  think 
to  prepare  himself  for  a  feast  by  changing  his  coat. 

If  these  four  doctrines  are  everlasting  truths,  then 
every  one  of  you  who  has  not  been  born  again  is  at 
this  moment  an  enemy  of  Go6/,'and  lying  under  the 
sentence  of  eternal  death;  bending  under  the  curse  of 
the  Almighty  when  you  go  out  and  when  you  come 
in,  when  you  rise  up  and  when  you  lie  down.  And 
can  you  sport  and  be  merry  as  though  all  was  well? 
Is  this  the  time  for  gaiety  and  mirth?  Is  it  not  the 
time  to  mourn  and  weep  and  break  your  hearts? 

But  alas  you  will  not  weep.  You  have  utterly 
ruined  the  temper  of  your  minds,  and  are  so  impla- 
cable in  your  opposition  to  God  that  nothing  but 
his  invincible  power  can  break  your  hearts.  This 
completes  your  ruin,  and  casts  you  wholly  depen- 
dant on  his  sovereign  will.  On  that  will,  which  all 
creation  cannot  change,  your  salvation  absolutely 
depends.  I  press  this  point  because  you  must  feel 
your  ruin  and  dependance  or  be  forever  undone. 

0  that  we  could  see  you  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  him 
whom  you  have  made  your  enemy  by  wicked  works, 
deeply  convinced  of  the  justice  of  your  condem- 
nation, and  that  no  other  will  or  arm  can  save  you. 
There,  while  crushed  under  infinite  mountains  of 
guilt,  and  sinking  into  eternal  despair,  you  will 
see  that  the  only  way  left  you  is  to  cast  yourself  on 
the  resources  of  the  adorable  Trinity;  you  will  see 
that  your  last  resort  is  sovereign  grace;  and  while 
trembling  and  confounded  before  the  uncovered 
majesty  and  purity  of  God,  you  will  see  how  much 
you  needed  a  Saviour  absolutely  divine,  that  the  sac- 
rifice of  a  creature  could  not  have  answered  for  a 
Vi^retch  like  you.  In  that  spot  I  heard  a  voice! 
''Come  unto  me,  poor,  trembling,  dying  sinner,  and 

1  will  give  you  rest.  My  name  is  Jesus,  because 
I  came  to  save  my  people  from  their  sins."     Trem- 


260  THE    SYSTEM     APPLIED. 

bling,  dying  sinner,  did  you  not  hear  him?  Why 
then  not  arise  and  flee  into  his  arms?  Why  lie  there 
and  die?  He  means  you, — no  child  of  Adam  more 
than  you.  Why  do  you  linger?  Why  do  you  trem- 
ble? The  arms  that  are  extended  are  the  same  that 
were  stretched  on  the  tree.  Go,  and  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel  give  you  the  desires  of  your  heart. 

Thus  the  system  which  has  been  supported  in 
these  lectures,  brings  us  at  last  to  Calvary  and 
points  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  It  is  a  circle  the 
centre  of  which  is  Christ  crucified.  Thus  may  all 
my  preaching  point  to  him  alone  and  honour  none 
but  him.  There  would  I  leave  all  my  glory, 
thither  direct  all  my  praise.  Let  heaven  and  earth 
gather  round  this  beloved  name.  Of  all  creation 
let  this  be  the  song,  "Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain."  To  him  be  the  best  honours  which  this  re- 
deemed world  can  rear;  to  "him  that  loved  us  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  hlood;^^  ^Hvho  is 
over  all  God  blessed  forever.     Amen." 


THE    END. 


V 


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